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HOW  TO    PRODUCE 
CHILDREN'S    PLAYS 


BY 
CONSTANCE   D'ARCY   MACKAY 

Author  of  "  The  House  of  the  Hearty''  "  The  Silver 

Thread,'^  "  Patriotic  Plays  and  Pageants" 

and  the  Historical  Pageants  of 

Schenectady  and  Portland 


NEW  YORK 

HENRY  HOLT  AND  COMPANY 


Copyright,  rgis, 

BY 
HENRY  HOLT  AND  COMPANY 


PRINTED    IN    THE 
■UNITED    STATES    OF   AMERICA 


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PREFACE 

This  book  is  intended  to  be  a  guide-post  on  the 
road  that  leads  to  the  adequate  producing  of  plays  for 
children.  For  that  reason  it  includes  a  history  of  the 
children's  play  movement,  a  chapter  on  its  sociological 
aspects  and  suggestions  for  new  fields,  as  well  as  chap- 
ters on  play-producing,  scenery,  costumes,  and  proper- 
ties. It  also  gives  a  full  list  of  plays  adapted  to  the 
public  schools,  arranged  according  to  the  school  grades, 
and  a  bibliography  of  child-drama  for  special  holidays, 
and  for  camp  and  settlement  use.  Portions  of  this 
book  have  appeared  in  the  following  magazines  and 
newspapers,  to  whom  thanks  are  due  for  permission 
to  republish :  The  Survey,  The  Normal  Instructor, 
The  Playground,  The  Popular  Educator,  Primary 
Education,  The  New  York  Sun,  and  Educational 
Dramatics. 


CONTENTS 


I    The  Development  of  Child-Drama  (A  Brief 

History  of  the  Movement) 
II     Child-Player   and    Child-Audience 

III  How  to  Produce  Children's  Plays  . 

IV  Play  Analysis  for  Children   . 
V    Costumes:    What    to    Select    and   What    to 

Avoid  ..... 

VI     Scenery  and  How  to  Make  It 
VII     Properties  and  How  to  Make  Them 
VIII    Music  and  Dances  .... 
IX    A    List    of    Plays    for    the    Public    Schools, 

Arranged  According  to  Grade   . 
X    A  List  of  Plays,  Pageants,  and  Operettas  in 
Which  the  Whole  School  May  Participate 
XI    A  List  of  Special  Holiday  Plays  . 
XII    A  List  of  Outdoor  Plays  and  Pageants 

XIII  A  List  of  Plays  for  Settlements   . 

XIV  A  List  of  Plays  for  Boys 
XV    A  List  of  Plays  for  Girls 

XVI    A  List  of  Plays  for  Group  Readings 
XVII    A  List  of  Books  that  Will  be  of  Help 


3 
29 

42 
65 

91 
96 

104. 

109 

"3 

126 
129 

135 
142 
146 
149 
150 
151 


HOW  TO  PRODUCE  CHILDREN'S 
PLAYS 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CHILD- 
DRAMA 

To  anyone  not  familiar  with  the  astonishingly  rapid 
growth  of  the  child-drama  movement  in  this  country 
the  slogan  of  "  Every  Public  School  a  Community 
Theater"  will  come  as  a  distinct  surprise:  yet  it  is 
not  long  since  President  Emeritus  Charles  Eliot  of 
Harvard,  in  speaking  of  the  dramatic  instinct,  pro- 
phetically said :  "  Here  is  this  tremendous  power  over 
children  .  .  .  that  ought  to  be  utilized  for  their  good. 
It  is  true  that  the  dramatic  instinct  is  very  general. 
.  .  .  So  I  say  that  this  power  ,  .  .  is  one  that  ought 
to  be  in  at  least  every  school  in  this  country,  and,  more- 
over, I  believe  that  it  is  going  to  be." 

On  every  side  it  is  evident  that  this  prophecy  is 
being  fulfilled.  The  demand  for  children's  plays  was 
never  so  great  as  it  is  to-day,  and  coincident  with  the 
demand  is  a  wish  for  a  fuller  knowledge  of  how  to 
direct  them,  since  there  are  few  guide-posts  on  the  way. 
Therefore,  the  object  of  this  book  is  to  tell  in  the 
simplest  possible  manner  what  to  do,  and  what  not  to 
do  in  the  producing  of  plays  for  children.  The  word 
children  is  used  to  indicate  the  happy  occupants  of  the 

3 


4  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

years  between  six  and  fourteen,  and  by  producing,  the 
general  stage-directing,  costuming,  and  setting  of  a 
children's  play,  so  that  it  will  have  distinct  educational 
and  artistic  value.  It  is  for  the  school-child,  not  the 
stage-child,  that  this  book  is  intended:  for  the  teacher 
and  drama  enthusiast  rather  than  the  professional  pro- 
ducer. It  will  consider  both  child-audience  and  child- 
plajer,  and  the  results  on  both  of  a  logical  development 
of  the  dramatic  instinct.  It  will  discuss  plays  to  fill 
the  special  needs  of  the  public  school,  the  social  settle- 
ment, and  the  camp.  It  will  also  briefly  consider  the 
stage-play  (i.e.,  professional  play)  for  child-audiences. 
And  as  the  whole  movement  of  child-drama  is  signifi- 
cant from  an  educational  and  sociological,  as  well  as 
a  dramatic  point  of  view,  a  brief  history  of  its  vicis- 
situdes will  be  included  in  the  present  chapter — from 
the  days  when  little  Greeks  participated  in  the  festivals 
to  Athena,  through  the  time  when  the  Countess  de 
Genlis  established  in  France,  in  1776,  the  first  Theater 
of  Education  for  Children  that  the  world  had  ever 
known.  From  that  time  to  our  own  is  less  than  a 
hundred  and  fifty  years,  yet  what  a  charDge  has  taken 
place!  Instead  of  a  single  example  of  a  children's 
theater  as  was  that  of  Mme.  de  Genlis,  we  now  have 
child-plays  and  child-players  throughout  the  country 
in  public  schools,  social  centers,  and  social  settlements, 
fostered  by  educational  and  dramatic  leagues,  recog- 
nized as  a  power  potent  for  good,  and  if  rightly  di- 
rected, a  means  of  teaching  patriotism,  ethics,  and  art. 
Strange  as  it  may  seem,  a  children's  play  written 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  CHILD-DRAMA        5 

for  the  special  delight  of  child-audiences  was  undreamed 
of  till  the  eighteenth  century  preached  the  rights  of 
the  child  as  well  as  the  rights  of  man.  Like  many 
another  modern  movement,  child-drama  seems  new, 
when  in  reality  it  is  not.  It  has  come  gropingly  up 
through  the  ages.  The  need  of  it  was  dimly  felt  cen- 
turies before  it  appeared,  just  as  the  need  for  children's 
literature  and  music  was  felt:  but  in  the  filling  of 
these  needs  child-drama  came  last.  Its  development 
has  been  tidal,  rising  here,  falling  there,  seeming  to 
retreat  utterly,  only  to  come  on  in  greater  strength  and 
fullness. 

From  the  earliest  times  children  have  participated 
in  non-professional  adult  drama,  though  it  was  not 
till  the  establishment  of  the  theater  of  Mme.  de 
Genlis  that  they  had  a  drama  all  their  own,  designed 
to  fit  their  special  needs.  In  the  religious  and  com- 
munity festivals  of  ancient  Greece,  white-robed  and 
flower-crowned  children  played  a  pictorial  part.  In 
the  great  historical  dramas  of  Greece,  notably  in  the 
Medea  of  Euripides,  there  were  child  parts ;  but  these 
were  played  by  masked  adults  of  small  stature.  Chil- 
dren of  shepherds  and  farmers  appeared  in  the  ritual 
before  Pomona's  altar;  boys  of  noble  birth,  crowned 
with  vine  leaves,  were  cup-bearers  to  the  chorus  of 
nobles  in  the  Thargelian  festivals.  Little  Britons  took 
part  in  and  witnessed  some  of  the  Druidic  festivals. 
From  the  twelfth  to  the  sixteenth  centuries  in  the  Eng- 
lish miracle  and  morality  plays  fostered  by  church,  com- 
munity, and  guild,  children  played  many  roles.    In  the 


6  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

fifteenth  century  in  England  short  plays  were  intro- 
duced into  the  public  schools  for  boys.  But  these 
dramas  were  arranged  to  be  played  before  adult  audi- 
ences: child-player  and  child-audience  were  never  con- 
sidered. 

Herein  lies  the  difference  between  the  ancient  and 
modern  play  movement  in  the  schools.  Nowadays  the 
benefit  to  be  derived  by  child-player  and  child-audi- 
ence is  the  first  consideration:  in  the  fifteenth  century 
the  pleasure  of  the  adult  audience  was  the  foremost 
thought.  Whether  the  child-player  benefited  by  the 
play,  or  even  understood  what  it  was  about,  was  of  no 
consequence.  All  that  was  asked  of  him  was  to  learn 
his  lines,  parrot-wise,  and  be  prompt  with  his  cues. 

Richard  the  Third  was  a  patron  of  the  drama:  his 
royal  example  led  to  a  love  of  acting  by  gentleman 
amateurs.  "  To  the  same  example,"  says  Dr.  Doran, 
in  his  Annals  of  the  Stage,  "  may  be  traced  the  custom 
of  having  dramatic  performances  in  the  public  schools, 
the  pupils  being  the  performers.  These  boys,  or  in 
their  place  the  children  of  the  Chapel  Royal,  were  fre- 
quently summoned  to  play  in  the  presence  of  the  King 
and  Court."  Boys  gave  a  "  command  performance  "  of  a 
play  in  Latin  before  Henry  the  Eighth  and  his  at- 
tendants; and  in  1584  the  children  of  the  Chapel 
Royal  presented  The  Arraignment  of  Paris,  by  George 
Peele,  before  Queen  Elizabeth. 

Though  there  were  extant  no  plays  especially  writ- 
ten for  children,  the  miracle  and  morality  plays  were  so 
naive,  so  direct  and  simple  in  their  appeal,  that  they 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  CHILD-DRAMA        7 

were  the  nearest  approach  to  child-drama  of  any  of  their 
predecessors.  Written  primarily  for  adults,  they  told 
their  story  with  definitely  labeled  characters  that  could 
be  understood  by  all.  Anger,  Meddlesome,  and  Make- 
peace could  be  readily  recognized  by  children.  Noah's 
wife,  who  is  quarrelsome  and  refuses  to  go  into  the  ark; 
the  bluff  humor  of  the  shepherd  who  steals  a  sheep, 
hides  it  in  a  cradle,  and  pretends  it  is  a  baby  when  its 
owner  comes  to  look  for  it — no  doubt  many  a  rosy- 
cheeked  youngster  in  doublet-and-hose  laughed  gleefully 
at  such  antics.  Yet  there  were  other  characters  it  might 
be  as  well  he  did  not  see — grim  skeletons  representing 
death,  black  dream-haunting  devils  and  carnal  vices — 
creatures  that  had  no  part  in  his  child-world.  But,  as 
has  been  said,  in  those  days  there  was  no  drama  for 
children,  and  whatever  child  happened  to  be  in  the  audi- 
ence must  perforce  take  bitter  with  the  sweet. 

The  Miracle  play  was  the  Sunday  school  of  its  time, 
and  Bible  history  was  learned  through  actual  repre- 
sentation. The  pageant,  passing  through  the  English 
towns  on  painted  floats,  drew  crowds  of  children  to 
witness  its  open-air  performances.  Bands  of  strolling 
players  had  child-auditors  by  the  score.  (See  the 
first  act  of  Josephine  Peabody's  The  Piper  and  Ben- 
net's  Young  Master  Skylark.)  Of  these  plays  the 
children  appropriated  what  they  could  and  left  the 
rest.  In  the  processional  and  decorative  portions  of  the 
masque  as  it  flourished  in  France  and  England,  children 
also  appeared,  though  there  was  often  little  in  that 
form    of    dramatic    entertainment    that    they    could 


8  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

understand.  In  "  far  Japan  "  the  plays  of  the  No  were 
flourishing,  with  occasional  child-parts;  in  Italy  were 
the  guild  plays,  with  roles  for  little  apprentices;  every- 
where appreciation  of  the  heart  of  childhood,  and  no- 
where any  direct  appeal  to  it.  Children  must  take 
their  drama  at  haphazard. 

With  the  opening  of  the  London  theaters  which  gave 
the  English  drama  a  local  habitation  and  a  name,  the 
decline  of  community  drama  *  began.  For  a  short  time 
they  flourished  side  by  side;  then  professional  drama 
gained  the  ascendency.  Not  that  there  was  ever  any 
real  rivalry  between  them.  It  was  simply  that  drama 
was  becoming  more  and  more  strictly  an  art  of  the 
theater,  to  be  encompassed  within  four  walls.  Strip- 
lings were  acting  the  parts  of  fine  ladies  or  children. 
The  day  of  the  child-actor  had  begun,  and  with  it  the 
day  of  the  child-player  f  ceased.  It  is  a  noticeable 
phenomena  that  the  age  which  sees  the  greatest  number 
of  children  acting  professionally  sees  also  the  diminish- 
ing of  community  acting  or  spontaneous  expression  of 
the  dramatic  instinct  among  children.  To  the  pres- 
ent writer  it  seems  as  if  the  exploitation  of  childhood 
and  the  commercialization  of  its  tender  talents  was 
a  subtle  weed  which  choked  the  flower  of  uncommercial 
talent.  They  cannot  flourish  in  the  same  soil.  The 
development  of  the  dramatic  instinct  in  the  school- 
room with  proper  hours  and  surroundings  is  one  thing; 

*  Drama  by  the  people. 

t  Child-player  is  used  to  denote  one  who  plays  for  pleas- 
ure; child-actor,  one  who  plays  for  profit. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  CHILD-DRAMA        9 

child-actors  traveling  from  place  to  place  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  over-excitement  and  fatigue  is  another.* 

The  attendance  of  children  at  the  indoor  theaters 
of  Shakespeare's  day  was  very  small.  The  audience 
was  mainly  composed  of  grown-ups.  Not  a  thou- 
sandth part  of  the  children  then  knew  Midsummer 
Night's  Dream  as  they  know  it  to-day.  Yet  the  fairy 
portions  of  it  sound  as  if  they  had  been  written  for 
children : 

"  And  I  serve  the  fairy  queen 
To  dew  her  orbs  upon  the  green. 
The  cowslips   tall   her   pensioners   be: 
In   their  gold   coats   spots  you  see; 
These    be    rubies,   fairy   favors, 
In  those  freckles  live  their  savors: 
I  must  go  seek  some  dewdrops  here, 
And  hang  a  pearl  in  every  cowslip's  ear." 

Here  was  an  elfin  fantasy  for  children  and  no  child- 
audience  to  greet  it! 

With  community  drama  diminishing,  two  sources  of 
participation  for  children  remained:  May  Day,  and 
its  May  Queen  and  Morris  Dancers,  its  bells  and 
garlands;  Christmas  Day,  and  its  antique  revels. 
While  these  festivals  lasted  children  could  count  on 
being  audience  and  participators  too,  though  these  were 
festivals  rather  than  plays. 

*  It  is  only  fair  to  state  that  this  is  the  author's  opinion, 
and  that  others  diflFer  from  it.  Such  well-known  pro- 
fessionals as  Mr.  Augustus  Thomas  and  Mr.  Francis  Wilson 
believe  in  children  acting  professionally,  while  Miss  Jane 
Addams  and  Mr.  Owen  Lovejoy,  Secretary  of  the  National 
Child  Labor  Committee,  hold  to  the  opposite. 


10  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

Came  Cromwell  and  the  closing  of  the  theaters, 
the  cessation  of  May  Day  mumming:  then  the  gay,  dis- 
solute days  of  the  Restoration,  when  no  theater  con- 
tained a  play  that  was  fit  for  children  to  witness. 
Community  drama,  that  is,  drama  in  which  the  people 
themselves  took  part  as  in  the  old  miracles  and  moral- 
ities, had  utterly  vanished,  not  to  return  until  our 
own  day. 

The  annals  of  eighteenth-century  England  contain 
almost  no  records  of  amateur  acting  by  children,  though 
a  performance  of  Cato  (!)  by  the  children  of  the  royal 
household  has  been  duly  chronicled.  Prince  George, 
afterwards  George  the  Third,  spoke  the  prologue ;  the 
epilogue  was  spoken  by  little  Lady  Augusta  (as  Prince 
Frederick  called  his  daughter)  and  Prince  Edward, 
afterwards  Duke  of  York.  Whatever  school-plays  were 
given  were  of  this  same  order,  pompous,  grandilo- 
quent, without  a  spark  of  the  fantasy  childhood 
craved.  Yet  for  the  child-audience  better  times  were 
in  store.  However  meager  child-drama  in  eighteenth- 
century  England,  however  unimaginative  the  time,  it 
did  give  one  perennial  figure  to  the  stage  that  was  to 
open  the  door  to  child-audiences — i.e.,  Pantaloon:  a 
figure  imported  by  Rich  from  the  Commedia  del  Arte 
of  Italy  for  the  express  purpose  of  amusing  grown-ups. 
This  Pantaloon  did,  in  company  with  Harlequin, 
Columbine,  and  Punchinello,  for  many  years.  Then 
by  degrees  he  came  into  his  own  true  kingdom  as  the 
leading  figure  in  the  Christmas  pantomimes  which 
from  about  1809  became  the  heritage  of  English  chil- 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  CHILD-DRAMA       n 

dren,  and  have  remained  so  to  the  present  day.  Panta-> 
loon  was  the  father  of  the  circus  clown  as  we  know 
him;  just  as  Punchinello  was  the  ancestor  of  Punch, 
chief  actor  in  the  puppet  show  of  Punch  and  Judy, 
which  our  ancestors  accepted  without  a  qualm  as  be- 
ing suitable  for  child-audiences.  Nowadays  the  hor- 
ror and  cruelty  of  Punch  are  no  longer  considered 
amusing.  He  is  banished.  And  with  him  much  that 
is  brutal  and  ugly. 

In  the  other  European  countries  the  participation  of 
child-audience  and  child-player  fluctuated  as  it  did  in 
England.  Little  apprentices  took  part  in  the  Guild 
Plays  of  the  Italian  cities:  Holland,  Germany,  and 
France  had  their  periods  of  community  drama  cor- 
responding to  that  of  the  miracle  and  morality  plays: 
there  were  folk  and  church  festivals  in  which  children 
participated.  These  grew  fewer  as  the  stage-plays 
grew  more  numerous.  The  continent  abounded  in 
puppet-shows  long  before  England  had  them,  but 
the  stories  they  acted  were  not  for  children's  eyes  or 
ears. 

In  the  convents  and  schools  of  France  children 
played  in  "  moral  comedies "  that  were  as  stiff  as 
CatOj  and  like  Cato,  primarily  intended  for  older 
pupils.  Then  in  the  days  of  Marie  Antoinette  and  the 
"  intellectual  ferment  "  came  the  most  dynamic  change 
that  child-drama  had  ever  known.  The  long  urge  for 
plays  designed  to  fit  the  needs  of  children  at  last  found 
an  answer. 

We  who  live  in  the  twentieth  century,  who  see  aU 


12  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

about  us  children's  reading-rooms,  children's  courts^ 
and  children's  hospitals;  who  are  accustomed  to  books, 
pictures,  and  music  designed  especially  for  children, 
can  hardly  realize  that  there  was  a  time  when  these 
things  did  not  exist.  But  when  the  educational  doc- 
trines of  Rousseau  startled  Europe  people  were  shaken 
from  a  lethargy,  made  to  think,  to  regard  the  child 
individually  instead  of  collectively,  to  realize  that  child- 
hood had  claims  of  its  own. 

Among  those  who  profited  by  Rousseau's  theories 
was  the  Countess  de  Genlis,  herself  a  born  teacher,  a 
pioneer  blazing  new  trails.  She  studied  the  intellectual 
and  spiritual  needs  of  children,  and  in  her  searching 
presently  realized  that  no  plays  had  been  written  with 
a  child-audience  in  view,  that  there  was  not  a  single 
drama,  with  the  exception  of  Shakespeare's  Midsum- 
mer Night's  Dream  (then  seldom  given),  that  could 
give  delight  to  child-audiences.  Therefore,  the  Count- 
ess de  Genlis,  greatly  influenced  by  Rousseau's  Emile, 
or  Treatise  on  Education,  established  on  her  estate,  at 
the  Chateau  de  Genlis,  a  Theater  of  Education  for 
Children  (1776-1780).  Here  the  De  Genlis  children 
acted  plays  written  by  their  far-seeing  and  gifted 
mother,  who  believed  that  through  the  wise  cultivation 
of  the  dramatic  instinct  children  could  be  taught  not 
only  such  lessons  of  language  and  history  as  education 
demanded,  but  the  "  elementary  lessons  of  life," — 
things  of  the  heart  and  spirit  not  contained  in  text- 
books. Thus  the  very  first  plays  ever  written  for 
children  came  to  be  acted. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  CHILD-DRAMA       13 

The  Theater  of  Education  was  a  rustic  one,  some- 
thing in  the  style  of  that  at  the  Little  Trianon.  It  had 
a  stage  and  seats,  blue  sky  for  a  roof,  splendid  trees 
for  a  background,  and  sunshine  for  footlights.  In  a 
little  play  called  The  Dove  the  tyranny  of  dress  was 
satirized.  Another  play  dealt  with  the  "  annals  of 
vertue."  Perhaps  nowadays  we  would  consider  them 
a  little  stiff  and  formal;  but  we  must  remember  that 
they  were  written  in  a  stiff  and  formal  time,  and  that 
child-players  and  child-audience  alike  found  delight  in 
them. 

The  Theater  of  Education  for  Children  and  the  re- 
sults obtained  there  attracted  the  notice  of  the  Electress 
of  Saxony,  and  Mme.  de  Genlis  therewith  became  in- 
structress to  the  children  of  the  Due  and  Duchesse  de 
Chartres,  employing  the  same  methods  (i.e.,  the  edu- 
cational influence  of  the  theater)  as  she  had  with  her 
own.  History  plays  were  given  as  a  means  of  teaching 
history:  the  child-players  took  part  in  small  civic  pro- 
cessions, riding  on  gayly  caparisoned  ponies.  How 
much  further  this  influence  might  have  gone  we  have 
no  means  of  determining,  for  the  actual  and  terrible 
drama  of  the  French  Revolution  began,  and  its  coming 
rang  down  the  curtain  on  the  first  experiment  in  plays 
for  children.  Thereafter  there  was  a  lull.  Berquin 
wrote  some  playlets  for  children  that,  as  one  critic  has 
termed  them,  "  were  so  moral  that  they  were  im- 
moral." Then  there  was  a  return  to  the  same  type 
of  adult  plays  for  children  that  had  flourished  before. 
But  true  child-drama  was  not  dead:  it  was,  like  the 


14  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

Princess  in  the  fairy  tale,  only  waiting  to  be  awakened 
again  at  the  right  time. 


As  has  been  said,  the  early  nineteenth  century  de- 
veloped the  Christmas  pantomime  in  England,  to  the 
great  delight  of  child-audiences.  In  the  mid-nineteenth 
century  the  child  again  came  forward  as  participator. 
An  operetta  for  children  appeared  on  the  horizon  in 
the  form  of  incidents  from  Mother  Goose,  loosely 
strung  together,  and  containing  such  popular  characters 
as  Little  Boy  Blue,  Miss  Muffet,  The  Old  Woman 
Who  Lived  in  a  Shoe,  and  Mother  Goose  herself. 
This  operetta  was  purely  a  community  production — a 
kind  of  folk-play,  if  one  might  call  it  so,  acted  by  the 
children  of  whatever  community  happened  to  give  it. 
Its  author's  name  is  lost  in  oblivion — if  it  ever  had  an 
author;  but  one  somehow  believes  that,  like  Topsy,  it 
"  just  grew."  It  was  popular  alike  in  England  and 
America:  it  was  healthy,  innocent,  child-like.  The 
sleeping  Princess  was  waking! 

Pinafore  was  long  regarded  as  an  opera  to  which 
one  might  take  children,  though  the  whimsicality  of 
its  humor  was  far  beyond  them;  and  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin  was  another  play  to  which  children  were  taken, 
though  slave  whips  and  tragic  deaths  are  not  now 
deemed  wise  entertainment  for  children. 

For  a  long  while  these  three  plays  were  the  only 
drama  for  children  that  America  had.     Puritan  times 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  CHILD-DRAMA       15 

had  frowned  on  the  child-player:  Colonial  days  were 
too  stressful  to  think  of  child-drama,  and  the  next 
decade  too  poor,  too  fraught  with  the  rigors  of  ad- 
justment. 

Fashions  in  drama  change,  as  do  all  fashions,  and 
if  a  sturdier  idea  of  boyhood  makes  Little  Lord  Faun- 
tleroy  seem  a  trifle  too  "  girlish  "  for  us  now,  he  was 
in  his  day  a  charming,  buoyant  figure,  bringing  with 
him  a  sense  of  wholesome  reality  that  showed  up  Rollo, 
Sandford  and  Merton,  and  the  children  in  Elsie, 
Queecfiy,  and  the  Wide,  Wide  World,  for  the  artificial, 
goody-goody  creatures  that  they  were.  Little  Lord 
Fauntlcroy  and  Dearest  ended  the  reign  of  literature 
known  as  "  the  didactic  school  for  children  "  and  be- 
gan a  dynasty  of  normal  books  and  stage-plays  for 
young  folks.  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  was  the  hero  of 
the  first  professional  play  designed  for  children,  and 
he  appealed  to  young  and  old  alike,  opening  the  way 
for  the  production  of  other  stage-plays  designed  for 
children,*  such  as  Prince  and  Pauper,  Editha's  Bur- 
glar and  The  Little  Princess,  which  delighted  child- 
audiences  all  over  the  country  and  are  in  use  to-day 
in  amateur  dramatic  clubs. 

In  the  public  schools  (grade  schools),  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  crude  attempts  at  drama,  "  piece 
speaking  "  was  still  the  only  use  to  which  the  dramatic 
instinct  was  put.    Children  galloped  with  Paul  Revere, 

*  The  idea  that  adults  could  play  children's  parts,  as  Miss 
Maude  Adams  does  now  in  Peter  Pan,  had  not  then  oc- 
curred. 


i6  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

or  hung  breathless  from  the  window  with  Barbara 
Fritchie  by  word  of  mouth.     They  never  acted. 

The  social  settlements  *  were  the  first  to  recognize 
the  need  for  children's  plays,  and  put  on  home-made 
versions  of  The  Sleeping  Beauty,  Cinderella,  and  The 
Three  Bears.  These  early  productions  were  not  up 
to  the  standard  set  to-day,  but  they  served  their  purpose 
and  their  time.  They  were  the  forerunners  of  the 
work  that  is  now  being  done.  Among  the  private 
schools  of  this  country  the  School  of  Ethical  Culture 
in  New  York  City  is  a  most  significant  pioneer  in 
play  and  festival  work,  setting  a  standard  for  the  lat- 
ter that  other  schools  would  do  well  to  emulate. 

In  1903  a  Children's  Theater,  under  the  direction  of 
Mrs.  Nettie  Greenleaf,  was  established  in  Boston,  on 
Huntington  Avenue,  near  the  public  library.  It  gave 
matinees  only:  its  actors  were  drawn  from  the  Dorothy 
Dix  Home  for  Stage  Children — that  is,  the  children 
of  actors  and  actresses  who  were  on  the  road  and 
could  not  have  their  little  folk  with  them.  The  chil- 
dren went  to  school,  like  every  other  normal  child,  and 
rehearsed  in  the  late  afternoon  at  about  the  same  hour 
that  other  children  were  practicing  five-finger  exercises. 
The  director  adhered  to  the  principle  of  giving  two 
short  one-act  plays  with  separate  casts  rather  than  a 
long  play,  which  might  prove  fatiguing  to  the  young 
(often  very  young!)  actors.  As  most  of  the  children 
planned  to  enter  the  same  profession  as  their  fathers 
and   mothers   when    they    reached   mature    years,    the 

•  About  1892. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  CHILD-DRAMA       17 

afternoon  performances  of  the  Children's  Theater  were 
simply  an  exercise  in  dramatic  art  for  those  taking 
part.  The  plays  given  were  largely  of  the  type  then 
produced  by  the  social  settlements — Cinderella  and 
The  Conquest  of  Santa  Claus,  etc.,  the  only  plays  avail- 
able on  a  small  royalty.  They  had  no  especial  beauty 
or  ethical  quality,  but  they  were  the  best  that  could  be 
had.  The  theater  was  always  well  patronized,  but 
was  condemned  by  the  authorities  as  being  unsafe  (after 
the  Iroquois  fire  in  Chicago  caused  better  fire  protec- 
tion), and  was  forced  to  close  its  doors. 

Also  in  1903  in  the  building  owned  by  the  Educa- 
tional Alliance,  New  York  City,  was  started  The 
Children's  Theater.  It  was  founded  by  Miss  Alice 
Minnie  Herts,  and  its  dramatic  director  was  Mrs. 
Emma  Sheridan  Fry.  The  work  of  the  theater  was 
along  broadly  educational  lines.  Thus  the  idea  that 
the  Countess  de  Genlis  had  established  a  century  and 
more  before  was  made  significant  in  America. 

This  theater  was  situated  in  the  heart  of  New  York's 
East  Side.  Its  players  were  drawn  from  the  surround- 
ing neighborhood,  its  audiences  likewise.  The  ages 
of  those  participating  in  the  plays  ran  all  the  way  from 
eight  or  nine  to  the  early  twenties.  The  plays  were 
carefully  chosen,  with  the  needs  of  audience  and  play- 
ers in  mind.  The  Tempest  was  the  first  play  pro- 
duced :  this  was  followed  by  Ingomar,  As  You  Like  It, 
and  The  Fairy  Ring.  Then  came  other  plays:  Little 
Lord  Fauntleroy,  Snow  White,  The  Little  Princess, 
Prince  and  Pauper,  Editha's  Burglar,  and  a  number  of 


i8  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

one-act  pieces,  including  A  Comedie  Royal,  The  End 
of  the  Way,  and  The  House  of  the  Heart.  The 
theater  was  always  well  attended.  Its  rate  of  admis- 
sion was  low,  and  its  performances  were  of  undoubted 
benefit  to  the  community,  for  children  in  that  neigh- 
borhood had  little  else  than  tawdry  moving-picture 
shows  as  their  means  of  recreation,  as  the  licensing  board 
of  the  "  movies  "  was  not  then  extant.  There  were 
three  performances  a  week,  and  since  the  neighborhood 
was  largely  Hebrew,  matinees  were  given  on  Sundays. 
Very  often  a  lecturer  would  explain  the  plays  in  the 
tongue  spoken  by  the  fathers  and  mothers  of  the  chil- 
dren. This  led  to  a  general  appreciation  of  what  was 
being  acted.  The  theater  closed  in  1909,  and  after 
an  interval  a  group  of  young  people,  incorporated 
under  the  name  of  The  Educational  Players,  began  to 
carr}'^  on  the  same  principles  of  educational  acting  that 
were  developed  by  Mrs.  Fry  for  the  Children's  Theater. 
But  between  the  closing  of  this  theater  and  the  in- 
corporation of  The  Educational  Players,  a  significant 
thing  had  occurred :  plays  frankly  and  avowedly  for 
the  public  schools  had  been  written,  and  published. 
That  meant  that  the  drama  was  not  to  be  confined  to 
whatever  spot  happened  to  have  a  children's  theater, 
isolated  from  the  rest  of  the  vast  city,  separated  by 
stern  walls  of  carfare  that  prohibited  many  children 
from  going,  even  if  they  had  the  price  of  admission. 
The  play  in  the  public  school  meant  plays  for  the  chil- 
dren of  every  district:  not  only  that,  but  it  meant  that 
the  plays  were  to  be  given  free.     No  admittance  fee 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  CHILD-DRAMA       19 

was  to  be  charged.  Moreover,  no  royalty  was  to  be 
required  for  the  plays.  They  were  to  be  acted  by  ama- 
teurs without  payment  of  any  kind.  They  began  to  be 
acted  in  the  public  schools :  sometimes  the  performances 
given  were  good ;  sometimes  they  contained  much  mis- 
directed effort.  But  always  it  was  effort,  a  reaching 
toward  the  goal.  The  demand  for  plays  was  so  great 
that  the  use  of  the  school  auditoriums  for  school  drama 
began.  It  was  coeval  with  the  growing  demand  for 
recreation  centers. 

In  191 1,  the  Educational  Players  began  to  work  in 
connection  with  the  public  schools;  but  as  the  Players 
were  not  children,  but  young  men  and  women,  they 
had  children  for  audience  rather  than  as  co-players. 
Occasionally,  however,  they  co-operated,  as  exemplified 
in  their  excellent  school  production  of  The  Little 
Princess,  and  a  performance  of  Midsummer  Night's 
Dream,  in  which  young  people  employed  in  stores  and 
factories  played  the  parts  of  Titania,  Lysander,  and 
Hermia,  while  school  children  acted  Peasblossom, 
Mustardseed,  and  the  rest  of  the  fairies.  The  play 
was  admirably  managed  from  all  points  of  view.  The 
adults  and  children  rehearsed  separately,  the  former  in 
the  evening,  the  latter  in  the  afternoon.  Only  at  the 
final  rehearsals  did  they  rehearse  together.  Although 
the  performance  was  to  be  given  indoors,  the  children's 
rehearsals  were  conducted  out  of  doors,  in  Bronx  Park. 
Thus  the  enchanted  wood  of  the  play  seemed  wonder- 
fully real  to  them,  and  they  were  imbibing  dramatic 
instruction  and  fresh  air  at  the  same  time! 


20  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

Feeling  the  wide  and  still  unfilled  needs  of  schools 
and  social  centers  for  standardized  dramatic  work,  the 
Educational  Dramatic  League  was  organized  in  Janu- 
ary, 19 13.  (Mrs.  August  Belmont,  President.)  Its 
object  was  (and  is)  the  promotion  in  Public  Schools, 
Social  Centers,  Recreation  and  Civic  Centers  of  Ama- 
teur Dramatic  Performances  having  an  educational 
value.  Its  object  is  national,  not  local.  It  stands 
ready  to  advise  clubs  and  schools  the  country  over.  Its 
plans  are  both  idealistic  and  utilitarian:  for,  while 
raising  the  standard  of  dramatic  production,  it  calls  for 
no  new  equipment,  but  only  a  better  utilization  of  the 
material  at  hand.  Youthful  dramatic  "  clubs  "  have 
sprung  up  in  schools  and  settlements,  and  the  League 
works  co-operatively  with  these,  lending  books  of  plays, 
histories  of  the  drama,  costume  plates,  costumes,  and 
sets  of  screens  for  backgrounds  for  a  very  small  sum. 
It  also  suggests  leaders  or  teachers  for  the  various 
clubs;  and  sustains  a  class  that  teaches  teachers  how 
to  direct  plays.  Last  year  in  New  York  City  fifty-one 
teachers  were  registered  members  of  the  League. 
Twenty-five  clubs  came  under  the  League's  stimulating 
influence:  there  were  twelve  associate  clubs,  and  three 
classes  in  story-playing.  And  this  after  only  a  year's 
work! 

The  League  actively  co-operated  with  such  associa- 
tions as  the  Music  School  Settlement,  the  New  York 
Kindergarten  Association,  the  Gerry  Society,  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association,  the  Vacation  Com- 
mittee, the  Camp  Fire  Girls,  the  Public  Schools,  the 


DEVELOPxMENT  OF  CHILD-DRAMA      21 

Recreation  Centers,  and  many  Settlements.  It  was 
found  that  the  ages  of  those  wishing  to  enroll  with  the 
League  ranged  all  the  way  from  eight  to  twenty-six,  so 
Junior  and  Senior  departments  were  formed.  In  order 
to  bring  about  co-operation  and  promote  a  community 
spirit  in  these  unrelated  groups,  a  competition  was 
organized,  and  a  bronze  tablet  supplemented  by  a 
money  prize  was  offered  for  the  best  performance.  The 
tablet  must  be  awarded  three  successive  times  to  the 
same  club  in  order  to  be  permanently  won.  In  the 
19 1 3  competition  the  play  selected  for  the  Juniors  was 
The  House  of  the  Heart,  and  for  the  Seniors  Pyg- 
malion and  Galatea.  For  the  19 14  competition  the 
Junior  play  is  the  first  act  of  The  Little  Princess,  and 
the  Senior  play  Clyde  Fitch's  Nathan  Hale.  With  the 
Juniors  the  greatest  care  is  taken  that  no  over-fatigue 
or  excitement  shall  mar  the  performance.  The  League 
believes  in  early  hours  and  short  plays  for  children;  in 
having  plays  throughout  the  city  rather  than  in  one 
district;  and  in  having  a  high  standard  for  the  least 
thing  done.  The  aims  of  the  League  are  indorsed  by 
such  well-known  authors  as  Edmond  Rostand,  Maurice 
Maeterlinck,  Lady  Gregory,  Sir  Arthur  Pinero,  Arnold 
Bennett,  and  John  Galsworthy. 

In  all  the  highways  and  byways  of  the  city  life 
child-drama  is  making  itself  manifest.  Story-telling 
in  the  New  York  Public  Libraries  has  led  to  giving 
plays  in  the  libraries.  Usually  the  play  is  told  in 
story  form  first,  and  acted  afterwards.  Outdoor 
plays  have   been   given   on   recreation   piers,   and   city 


22  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

roofs,  as  well  as  in  the  sylvan  reaches  of  the 
parks. 

Educators  find  in  the  children's  play  a  wonderful 
means  of  developing  defectives.  Plays  are  given  by  the 
deaf  and  dumb;  also  story  pantomimes  are  acted  by 
the  latter.  Blind  children  recently  gave  a  one-act 
play  in  aid  of  the  Lighthouse,  a  recreative  center  for 
the  blind. 

The  church,  which  in  medieval  times  first  fostered 
the  play  movement,  is  now  returning  to  its  ancient  be- 
lief in  drama  as  a  moral  force.  St.  George's  Church 
is  particularly  active  in  this  direction,  and  has  given 
some  unique  performances  of  St.  George  and  the 
Dragon,  the  street  in  front  of  the  church  being  closed 
to  traffic  while  the  play  was  in  progress.  A  play  given 
outdoors  in  a  city  street !  St.  George  and  the  Dragon 
in  the  heart  of  New  York  City,  pavements  underfoot, 
city  blocks  on  all  sides,  their  windows  crowded  with 
the  heads  of  spectators  intent  on  seeing  children  act  a 
medieval  play!  * 

Festival  plays  for  children  are  given  on  some  of  the 
Jewish  feast-days.  Children's  plays  are  given  under 
the  auspices  of  several  of  the  Catholic  churches.  Per- 
formances by  the  Ben  Greet  Players  (professional 
actors,  not  young  people)  have  been  given  under  the 
auspices  of  The  Wage-Earners'  Theater  League  in  the 
school-yards  of  Manhattan.    Performances  by  this  com- 

*  In  this  connection  might  be  noted  Eager  Heart,  a  beauti- 
ful Christmas  mystery  play,  produced  by  various  communities 
throughout  the  country  at  the  holiday  season. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  CHILD-DRAMA      23 

pany  have  also  been  given  in  the  public  school  audi- 
toriums at  a  price  that  put  them  within  the  reach  of 
anyone.  The  Shakespeare  Centenary,  May,  19 14,  was 
celebrated  not  only  by  performances  by  this  company, 
but  by  children's  festivals  in  the  parks,  and  public 
school  performances  by  the  Dramatic  League  and  the 
Educational  Players. 

All  this  represents  the  work  done  in  New  York 
City;  but  all  over  the  country  the  influence  of  child- 
drama  is  being  felt.  In  Ohio,  in  191 1,  Group  Read- 
ings were  introduced  into  the  public  schools  through 
the  pages  of  The  Normal  Instructor.  A  folk-play  in 
three  acts  and  five  scenes  {The  Silver  Thread)  was 
studied  in  the  schoolrooms.  The  play  had  a  large  cast, 
and  each  child  was  made  responsible  for  whatever  char- 
acter he  or  she  assumed.  The  scenes  were  laid  in 
Cornwall,  and  everything  connected  with  Cornish 
history  and  geography  was  diligently  studied.  This  was 
the  first  time  that  Group  Reading  had  ever  been  used 
in  the  public  schools,  and  it  proved  extremely  service- 
able. It  kept  the  children  interested,  their  English 
improved  through  play-reading,  the  urge  of  the  drama 
as  it  gathered  impetus  made  for  clearer  enuncia- 
tion. This  method  is  now  in  use  in  many  of  the 
schools. 

In  Cincinnati  the  School  of  Expression  conducts  a 
Children's  Theater,  giving  special  performances  every 
year,  the  students  in  the  school  taking  part,  and  the 
school  children  of  Cincinnati  forming  the  audience. 
The  little  theater  of  Hull  House,  Chica2o,  gives  splen- 


24  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

did  productions  of  children's  plays;  the  social  settle- 
ments of  Boston,  notably  Lincoln  House  and  South 
End  House,  are  equally  active  along  these  lines. 
Under  the  auspices  of  the  Boston  Women's  Educa- 
tional and  Industrial  Union  has  been  established  an 
association  called  the  Children's  Players — a  group  of 
amateurs  from  college  and  private  dramatic  clubs, 
acting  under  the  Union's  management.  Each  year  they 
present  a  play  for  children,  generally  during  the  Christ- 
mas holidays.  It  is  staged  in  a  local  theater.  Three 
performances  are  given,  two  matinees  and  a  morning 
dress  rehearsal.  The  matinees  are  played  at  the  usual 
theater  rates;  at  the  morning  performance  the  seats  are 
placed  within  the  range  of  the  most  slender  pocket- 
book,  so  that  children  from  all  over  the  city  can  attend. 
A  little  theater  called  The  House  of  Play,  in  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  regularly  produces  plays  for  children  and 
young  people,  children  forming  both  audience  and 
player-guild.  The  theater  is  run  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Drama  League.  Neighborhood  House,  a  Wash- 
ington Settlement,  gives  children's  plays  and  festivals, 
the  costumes  of  which  are  all  designed,  dyed,  and  made 
up  at  the  settlement  itself.  The  performances  of  the 
Ethical  Culture  School  in  New  York  have  already  been 
mentioned.  All  the  settlements  in  New  York  have 
departments  of  child-drama,  including  the  University 
Settlement,  Greenwich  House  (which  gives  a  Chil- 
dren's Festival  every  year),  and  the  Henry  Street  Set- 
tlement, where  splendid  work  is  done  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Misses  Lewisohn. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  CHILD-DRAMA      25 

The  ten  settlements  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  united  in 
191 1  in  giving  in  Prospect  Park  The  Pageant  of  Pa- 
triots, the  first  children's  historical  pageant  ever  given 
in  America.  It  does  not  rightly  belong  under  the 
heading  of  plays,  save  that  each  episode  in  the 
pageant  was  written  in  a  play  form,  which  made  it 
possible  to  detach  it  from  the  whole  pageant  and  give 
it  separately.  This  pageant  dealt  with  the  youth  of 
American  heroes  and  depicted  scenes  from  the  lives  of 
Daniel  Boone,  Franklin,  Washington,  and  Lincoln  be- 
fore an  audience  of  ten  thousand  people.  Up  to  that 
time  the  settlements  had  carried  on  their  dramatic  work 
separately,  but  the  pageant  drew  them  all  together  to 
work  for  a  common  cause.  Each  settlement  took  an 
episode  in  the  pageant,  and  after  the  pageant  was  over 
these  episodes  were  repeated  by  some  of  the  settlements 
in  their  own  districts.  Later  this  pageant  was  given  for 
the  "  Safe  and  Sane  Fourth  "  of  Boston  and  other 
cities. 

During  the  week  of  June  7,  19 14,  a  Festival  and 
Pageant  of  Nations  was  produced  in  New  York  City 
under  the  auspices  and  guidance  of  The  People's  In- 
stitute and  Social  Center  Public  School  63.  Every 
afternoon  and  evening  during  the  entire  week  singing, 
dancing,  and  drills  took  place  in  a  huge  cleared  space 
running  from  Eleventh  to  Twelfth  Street,  and  from 
Avenue  A  to  First  Avenue.  The  culmination  of  the 
pageant  was  marked  by  a  beautiful  symbolical  idea  of 
the  different  nations  bringing  to  Columbia  gifts  that 
typified  their  chief  arts  and  industries.     Everywhere 


26  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

was  life,  movement,  color.  Italians  marching  under 
their  gay  banners,  Jews  with  the  blue  and  white  flag 
of  Zion,  Hungarians,  Russians,  Poles,  Galicians,  Ger- 
mans, and  Norwegians — all  in  folk-costume.  Two 
thousand  children  and  one  thousand  grown-ups  par- 
ticipated in  the  pageant  before  an  audience  of  about 
twenty  thousand  people.  It  brought  about  a  tremen- 
dous stimulation  of  race  pride  and  race  intelligence. 
Besides  this  children  are  participating  in  all  the  adult 
historical  pageants  that  are  lending  to  our  own  time 
something  of  the  glory  of  medieval  days,  pageants  that 
give  the  youth  of  our  country  a  clear  idea  of  the  de- 
velopment of  both  national  and  community  history. 
As  little  Puritans,  Indians,  Colonials,  and  Pioneers, 
children  have  greatly  added  to  the  effectiveness  of 
the  Pageants  of  Peterboro,  Deerfield.  Schenectady, 
Arlington,  Thetford,  Westchester,  Portland,  and 
others.  As  in  the  old  days,  they  are  now  participating 
in  Masques,  in  the  St.  Gaudens  Masque,  The  Bird 
Masque,  The  Masque  of  St.  Louis,  in  the  Allegory 
given  on  the  steps  of  the  Treasury  in  Washington, 
D.  C. 

The  Drama  League,  established  for  the  furtherance 
of  the  best  plays,  has  branches  in  all  the  large  cities  and 
towns,  and  maintains  a  Junior  Department  which  issues 
pamphlets  listing  available  plays  for  children.  It  also 
supplies  lecturers  on  child-drama. 

Meantime,  in  the  professional  theaters,  the  charm 
of  Rebecca  of  Sunnybrook  Farm,  and  the  delicate  fan- 
tasy of  such  plays  as  Snow  White,  Peter  Pan,  and  The 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  CHILD-DRAMA      27 

Blue  Bird,  have  given  such  children  as  were  fortunate 
enough  to  see  them  much  of  the  material  of  dreams. 

The  Blue  Bird  and  Rebecca  of  Sunnybrook  Farm 
were  both  produced  in  England,  where,  partly  due  to 
the  rise  of  the  Historical  Pageant  movement,  plays 
for  children  received  a  sudden  impetus.  They  are  not 
yet  used  educationally  as  in  America,  but  undoubtedly 
they  will  be  in  time.  The  social  settlements  of  Eng- 
land are  active  in  producing  children's  plays,  notably 
Toynbee  Hall,  London,  where  the  first  children's 
Pageant  of  English  History,  by  Louis  N.  Parker,  was 
given  in  igio.  A  collection  of  English  history  plays 
are  published,  and  their  amateur  performance  fur- 
thered by  the  "  League  of  the  Empire."  These  plays 
deal  with  the  heroes  of  English  history,  with  Alfred, 
Richard  Coeur  de  Lion,  bluff  King  Hal,  the  Black 
Prince,  Robin  Hood,  and  so  on;  and  inculcate  patriot- 
ism, not  only  in  Merrie  England,  but  in  Canada,  Aus- 
tralia, New  Zealand,  and  India,  wherever  child- 
players  of  the  empire  are.  "  The  Guild  of  Play " 
strives  to  conserve  the  national  folk-dances  and  festi- 
vals: it  collects  and  publishes  these,  as  well  as  music 
and  costume  plates.  The  Bermondsey  Guild  of  Play- 
children  took  an  important  part  in  the  great  English 
Church  Pageant  of  1909.  The  Village  Children's  His- 
torical Play  Society  was  founded  in  Winchelsea  in 
1910.  As  its  title  indicates,  it  gives  historical  plays. 
The  productions  are  of  a  high  standard,  dramatically 
and  artistically.  Ludlow  Castle,  a  play  by  the  Hon. 
Mrs.  Percy  Mathewson,  was  given  this  year.     The 


28  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

very  beautiful  costumes  were  designed  by  Edich  Craig. 
In  Ireland,  largely  due  to  the  influence  of  the  Irish 
Theater,  poetic  plays  of  Irish  history  are  given  in  the 
boys'  schools,  with  a  beauty  and  simplicity  of  effect  such 
as  we  have  come  to  associate  with  the  performances  of 
the  Irish  Players. 

In  the  other  countries  of  Europe,  in  the  spontaneous 
Italian  festivals,  in  German  pageants  similar  to  that 
of  Rothenburg,  in  the  children's  festivals  given  at 
Versailles,  at  the  performances  of  the  Instituto  Inter- 
nationale in  Spain,  everywhere  the  child-drama  move- 
ment is  slowly  yet  surely  coming  into  its  own,  though 
by  far  the  greatest  strides  have  been  made  by  America 
and  England — indeed,  in  the  respect  of  utilizing  drama 
as  an  educational  force  in  its  public  schools,  America 
may  be  said  to  lead  the  world. 

The  child-drama  movement  is  only  a  part  of  the 
whole  great  movement  of  recreative  art  made  manifest 
on  all  sides  through  pageantry,  festival,  and  the 
masque — a  movement  reaching  toward  that  "  redemp- 
tion of  leisure  "  set  forth  so  glowingly  in  the  Civic 
Theater.  By  strange  roads  and  ways,  with  many 
backward  turnings  and  cessations,  and  again  with  the 
rush  of  forced  marches,  has  the  children's  play  move- 
ment gone  forward.  Much  has  been  done.  Much  is 
yet  to  do.    But  that  it  will  be  done  who  can  question? 


II 


CHILD-PLAYER  AND  CHILD- 
AUDIENCE 

One  of  the  first  questions  that  arise  in  dealing  with 
plays  for  children  is:  Why  should  there  be  plays  for 
children  at  all?  What  claim  have  they  on  drama? 
Why  are  children's  plays  now  given  in  all  our  school- 
houses,  settlements,  camps,  and  recreation  centers? 
Yet  one  does  not  have  to  look  far  for  the  answer.  It 
is  written  in  the  eager,  vivid  faces  of  children  waiting 
outside  the  "nickel  arcades"  in  our  great  cities;  it  is 
sometimes  stamped  on  the  heavy,  uninspired  counte- 
nances of  country  children  who  have  "  never  had  a 
chance,"  for  whom  the  imaginative  life  is  a  closed 
book.  The  former  are  avid  in  their  quest  for  the 
stuff  that  is  the  substance  of  dreams;  the  latter  do  not 
know  that  the  stuff  exists.  The  needs  of  each  are  so 
vital  and  imperative  that  it  is  hard  to  determine  which 
requires  guidance  most. 

In  The  Spirit  of  Youth  and  the  City  Streets,  Jane 
Addams  has  shown  us,  with  crystal  clearness,  a  picture 
of  "  a  group  of  children  and  young  people  emerging 
from  a  theater  with  the  magic  of  the  play  still  thick 
upon    them."      They    have    been    for   hours   in    their 

29 


30  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

"veritable  house  of  dreams";  now  once  again  they 
face  the  world  of  actuality.  If  they  belong  to  the  rank 
and  file  of  everyday,  has  what  they  witnessed  in  "  the 
house  of  dreams  "  brought  something  beautiful  and 
glamourous  into  the  harsh  realities  of  their  daily  lives? 
Has  it  given  them  something  of  inner  strength  with 
which  to  meet  the  actualities?  For  to-day  we  know  it 
is  not  only  the  work  or  study  hours  of  the  individual 
that  are  important:  we  have  come  to  realize  that  the 
leisure  hours  are  equally  significant,  equally  fraught 
with  redemption  or  menace.  We  know  that  in  an  age 
of  abnormal  commercialism  one  of  the  chief  needs  is 
the  freeing  of  the  imagination.  Age  resigns  its  dreams; 
youth  demands  that  its  dreams  be  fulfilled,  it  urges  that 
the  gray  of  life  be  shot  with  the  iridescence  of  the 
heroic  and  wonderful.  Above  all,  it  demands  action, 
and  it  is  an  incontestable  fact  that  drama  is  action, 
that  it  makes  a  more  dynamic  appeal  to  all  sorts  and 
conditions  than  does  any  other  art.  It  can  both  waken 
and  guide.  It  appeals  to  all  young  people  and  chil- 
dren through  the  dram.atic  instinct,  the  instinct  that 
strives  to  fulfill  youth's  dreams,  that  yearns  to  be 
heroic,  wonderful,  and  dififerent.  To  conserve  this  in- 
stinct and  to  turn  it  into  the  right  channels  is  what  the 
child-drama  movement  is  trying  to  do  by  supplying 
adequate  plays  for  children,  and  places  in  which  to 
give  the  plays. 

That  this  dramatic  instinct  is  well-nigh  universal 
goes  almost  without  saying.  There  is  a  spark  of  the 
dramatic  instinct  in  almost  everyone,  just  as  there  is 


PLAYER  AND  AUDIENCE  31 

a  spark,  though  often  obscured,  of  the  poetic  instinct. 
The  poet  is  the  seer,  or  se-er.  Cultivate  the  dramatic 
instinct,  and  you  waken  the  poetic.  Vitalize  the  poetic, 
and  you  make  people  see.  It  is  the  people  who  see  that 
have  moved  the  world.  Jane  Addams  is  a  poet  working 
in  terms  of  humanity;  Galileo  was  a  poet  working  in 
terms  of  astronomy.  Nations  are  judged,  not  by  their 
natural  resources  or  the  wealth  their  citizens  have,  but 
by  the  human  beings  they  produce.  And  the  right  use 
of  the  dramatic  instinct  tends  to  develop  human  beings. 
It  can  confidently  be  claimed  for  it  that  it  is  of  bene- 
fit to  the  child-player,  the  child-audience,  and  the  com- 
munity at  large.    Let  us  consider  them  in  turn. 

Child-Player 

In  the  first  place,  it  must  be  made  clear  that  the 
development  of  the  dramatic  instinct  does  not  tend  to 
make  actors,  but  imaginative  human  beings.  To  study 
music  in  the  schools  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  one 
must  be  a  musician.  Drawing  is  taught  in  all  the 
schools,  but  that  does  not  mean  that  every  school- 
child  is  to  become  an  artist.  It  is  merely  enlarging  his 
horizon,  adding  to  his  store  of  knowledge,  making  him 
a  more  appreciative  citizen.  And  this  is  precisely  what 
the  child-drama  movement  strives  to  do.  It  seeks  to 
widen  horizons  mentally  and  ethically,  to  provide  a 
fabric  for  dreams,  since  out  of  dreams,  from  time  im- 
memorial,  has  sprung  achievement. 

In  all  children  there  is  a  love  of  the  beautiful  and 


32  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

heroic,  though  it  is  often  hidden  under  layers  of  bash- 
fulness,  stultification,  or  seeming  indifference.  One 
has  only  to  rouse  the  dormant  dramatic  instinct  to 
find  that  this  love  is  there.  It  exists  equally  in  the 
Child-who-has-Too-Little  and  the  Child-who-has-Too- 
Much.  Give  a  farm-child  a  chance  to  be  a  young 
Minute  Man,  give  a  little  newsboy,  once  in  his  life,  a 
chance  to  be  a  hero;  let  an  average  little  girl  play  she 
is  a  princess — a  princess  with  sweet  and  gracious  man- 
ners; let  the  Child-who-has-Too-Much  become  a  little 
pioneer  without  luxuries  who  must  make  the  most  of 
everything  that  comes  her  way,  and,  under  wise  guid- 
ance, you  have  done  something  for  all  of  them.  You 
have  given  them  the  reaction  of  a  new  environment. 
The  newsboy  dropped  the  patois  of  the  street  to  be- 
come the  hero;  the  young  Minute  Man  must  hold 
himself  erect;  the  little  princess  played  with  charm  of 
manner;  the  youthful  pioneer  enlarged  her  vision. 
More  than  this:  if  the  play  has  literary  value,  they 
have  added  to  their  vocabulary,  stimulated  their 
memories,  and  learned  to  express  themselves.  Clearness 
of  enunciation  has  been  gained ;  they  have  obtained 
a  knowledge  of  team-work,  of  how  necessary  the  effort 
of  each  individual  is  to  the  success  of  any  undertaking. 
Moreover,  if  the  play  has  any  real  value  (and  from 
the  standpoint  of  Mme.  de  Genlis  and  all  other  work- 
ers in  child  dramatics  this  is  the  most  important  thing 
of  all)  they  have  gained  an  ethical  lesson,  a  "  criticism 
of  life." 

Says    the    bulletin    of    the    Educational    Dramatic 


PLAYER  AND  AUDIENCE  33 

League:  "We  train  the  young  in  statistics,  in  how  to 
work.  Isn't  it  worth  while  to  add  to  their  training 
a  h'ttle  knowledge  of  that  vital  part  of  them — their 
emotions?  Show  them  the  point,  the  critical  moment 
in  which  the  villain  of  the  play  becomes  villain,  and 
how  the  same  emotion  which  brought  this  about,  dif- 
ferently handled,  could  have  made  him  a  hero."  Thus 
countless  lessons  can  be  taught  through  child-drama. 
What  was  The  Blue  Bird  but  an  inspired  preachment 
that  the  humblest,  humdrum  things  of  life  were  often 
the  most  beautiful? 

Give  children  a  morality  play  to  act,  and  they  learn 
something  of  the  effects  of  good  and  evil ;  give  them  a 
fairy  play,  and  you  have  taken  them  into  the  country 
of  the  imagination ;  give  them  a  nature  play,  and  they 
grasp  a  knowledge  of  the  world  around  them ;  while  a 
history  play  makes  them  appreciate  the  valor  and  self- 
sacrifice  that  went  to  the  upbuilding  of  our  nation. 
This  much  the  play  can  do  for  the  child-player.  It  is 
an  acknowledged  fact.  But  it  might  do  even  more.  For 
the  average  citizen  life  is  filled  with  work  and  conflict, 
with  a  hundred  setbacks  and  unexpected  difficulties. 
Why  not  teach  the  child  who  is  later  to  be  the  citizen 
to  live  dramatically,  to  dramatize  his  difficultiesf  It 
will  give  interest  and  color  to  life,  and  lend  keen  ex- 
hilaration to  what  otherwise  might  be  a  gray  and  dis- 
couraging existence.  Poverty  is  a  monster  to  be  con- 
quered. Discontent  another.  Failure  another.  Diffi- 
culty an  antagonist  to  whom  one  must  give  deadly 
combat  if  one  would  succeed.     Through  the  stimulus 


34  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

of  the  dramatic  instinct  many  a  war  might  be  won  on 
the  battleground  of  the  spirit. 

Vocational  Guidance  is  a  modern  movement  that 
could  be  greatly  aided  through  drama — real  drama,  I 
mean,  not  the  inner  drama.  Vocational  Guidance 
should  be  dramatized.  The  trades  and  their  demands, 
rewards,  and  opportunities  could  be  clearly  shown. 
Such  plays  would  go  far  toward  solving  the  problem 
of  the  misfit,  the  hopeless  drifters  that  fill  our  cities. 
For  surely  one  of  the  greatest  tragedies  of  our  American 
life  is  this  very  misfitness.  There  is  no  more  calamitous 
figure  than  the  youth  who  is  drifting,  who  has  not  dis- 
covered what  he  wants  of  life,  and  no  moment  more 
filled  with  import  than  that  in  which  he  discovers  what 
his  goal  is  to  be.  Everyone  knows  the  story  of  how  the 
youthful  Benjamin  Franklin  was  taken  by  his  father 
to  see  all  the  different  trades,  with  tradesmen  at  work, 
so  that  he  might  actually  visualize  them,  and  make  his 
choice  of  a  lifework  wisely  and  whole-heartedly. 
Plays  for  Vocational  Guidance  might  do  just  this. 
Remedial  plays,  they  might  be  called.  They  could 
also  teach  that  it  is  never  too  late  to  make  a  fresh  be- 
ginning, or  to  start  anew.  Endurance,  Struggle,  Cour- 
age, Hope,  are  all  figures  to  stir  the  heart  of  youth, 
and  they  can  be  seen  banishing  the  figures  of  Too- 
Late  or  Never-Never!  The  Ideal  and  the  fight  to 
attain  it  is  not  too  difficult  of  comprehension  for  the 
schoolgirl  or  schoolboy  in  the  higher  grades,  in  those 
years  when  the  thoughts  of  youth  are  "  long,  long 
thoughts."      "  Blessed    is    the    man    who    has    found 


PLAYER  AND  AUDIENCE  35 

his  work,"  says  Carlyle,  and  the  boy  is  father  to 
him. 

"  But  suppose  that  child-drama  cultivates  a  love  of 
acting,"  cries  the  extreme  conservative.  To  which  one 
can  answer,  "  Is  not  amateur  acting  on  a  par  with  ama- 
teur music?  Is  not  the  child  or  adult  entitled  to 
'imagination  in  recreation'?"  The  love  of  any  art 
gives  joy  to  its  votary.  Better  the  youth  of  the  country 
expressing  themselves  through  plays,  festivals,  and  folk- 
dance  than  through  street-corner  lounging,  dance 
halls,  and  billiard  rooms  in  the  cities,  and  inanition  and 
gossip  in  the  country  towns.  The  golden  days  of 
Greece  and  the  great  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth  were 
play-acting  epochs,  and  do  not  seem  to  have  been  the 
worse  for  it.  It  is  true  that  there  were  no  plays  for 
children  in  the  Elizabethan  era,  and  it  is  a  pity  that 
there  were  not.  But  the  children  of  that  time  did  not 
need  them  as  do  the  children  of  to-day.  They  were 
living  in  an  imaginative  age  filled  with  balladry,  festi- 
val, and  story,  with  high  adventure  and  marvelous  dis- 
coveries on  all  sides.  Life  itself  was  a  play,  romantic 
and  colorful.  Compare  the  life  of  that  time  and  the 
monotony  of  our  dun  city  streets,  a  monotony  against 
which  youth  is  in  continual  revolt.  If  plays  are  not 
selected  for  children,  in  many  instances  they  will  select 
them  for  themselves.  Mrs.  Charles  Israels  says: 
"  Most  interesting  is  the  change  which  has  come  over 
amateur  dramatics  in  young  people's  organizations," 
and  quotes  the  following  instances: 

"  Twelve  or  thirteen  years  ago,  when  in  charge  of 


36  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

all  the  entertainment  work  at  the  Educational  Alliance 
(New  York  City),  I  came  in  contact  with  many  boys' 
clubs  with  dramatic  ambitions.  Those  were  the  palmy 
days  of  melodrama  at  the  Third  Avenue  and  the  Bow- 
ery Theaters.  As  soon  as  a  play  was  produced  its  story 
was  printed  in  the  evening  papers  with  all  the  original 
dialogue  merely  connected  by  a  sufficient  number  of 
'  he  saids  '  and  '  she  saids.'  These  stories  were  clipped 
from  the  papers,  pasted  into  blank-books,  and  became  the 
script  from  which  the  play  was  rehearsed." 

"  Original  plays  were  written  to  follow  these  models, 
and  a  typical  programme  offered  would  consist  of  a 
play  or  plays  entitled: 

The  Bandit's  Revenge. 

The  Captain's  Band. 

Guilty,   or   the   Pirate  King's  Reward. 

"  We  introduced  new  standards,  and  among  the 
plays  produced  were  a  version  of  the  courtroom  scene 
in  Puddinhead  Wilson,  Men  and  Women,  and  many 
home-made  versions  of  fairy  tales  and  children's  verses, 
and  stories." 

To-day,  through  wise  guidance,  the  same  type  of  club 
may  give,  as  did  the  boys  of  South  End  House,  Boston, 
a  production  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson's  Treasure 
Island,  which  combines  exciting  incident  and  literary 
quality. 

The  Child-Audience 

Walt  Whitman  said,  "  To  have  great  poets  we  must 
have  great  audiences."    The  children  of  to-day  will  be 


PLAYER  AND  AUDIENCE  37 

the  audience  of  to-morrow.  To  have  great  drama  we 
must  have  great  audiences.  Train  the  dramatic  in- 
stinct of  the  children  of  to-day,  and  the  drama  of  to- 
morrow will  be  great  drama  because  its  audience  will 
demand  it.  In  all  the  schools  children  are  taught  the 
poetry  of  Stevenson  and  Longfellow  in  the  hope  that 
when  they  are  older  they  will  love  not  only  Stevenson 
and  Longfellow,  but  Shelley  and  Shakespeare.  If  it 
is  worth  while  to  train  a  child's  literary  taste,  why  is 
it  not  worth  while  to  train  his  dramatic  taste?  Why  is 
it  not  imperative  to  make  him  see  the  difference  between 
true  and  false  dramatic  values,  between  the  tawdry  and 
the  beautiful?  Watch  a  child-audience  rapt  with  the 
loveliness  and  surprise  of  The  Blue  Bird,  or  wide-eyed 
at  the  fairies  in  the  treetops  of  Peter  Pan.  They  have 
entered  into  their  own  world.  It  is  as  real  to  them  as 
it  is  fantastic  to  us,  "  Is  this  where  the  most  beautiful 
princess  in  the  world  lives?  "  asks  a  little  girl,  peering 
into  the  door  of  the  Hull  House  Theater,  or  "Does 
Alice  in  Wonderland  always  stay  here?  " 

The  love  of  drama  is  so  deep-rooted  a  human  in- 
stinct that  children  have  it  as  well  as  adults.  All  over 
the  country,  in  city  or  in  village,  boys  and  girls  are 
keenly  anxious  to  "  see  a  show,"  when  an  opportunity 
ofifers.  If  no  professional  plays  for  children,  such  as 
Snow  White  or  The  Blue  Bird,  happen  to  be  available, 
they  (the  children)  are  taken  to  vaudeville  or  comic 
opera.  They  go,  willingly  enough.  But  of  the  herit- 
age of  childhood  they  receive  nothing.  They  are  given 
nothing  that  they  can  rightly  understand. 


38  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

In  all  the  large  cities  children  frequent  the  moving- 
picture  shows,  and  since  there  are  no  Children's 
Moving-Picture  Theaters  the  youthful  audience  is 
served  a  dish  of  lurid  melodrama,  comic  supplement 
humor,  or  sundry  comments  on  domestic  felicity.  Chil- 
dren are  greatly  influenced  by  what  they  see  in  these 
theaters.  The  night  courts  devoted  to  youthful  cul- 
prits are  filled  with  echoes  of,  "  I  seen  it  at  the  moving- 
picture  show."  Says  an  English  playwright,  "  The 
theater  is  literally  making  the  minds  of  our  urban  popu- 
lation to-day.  It  is  a  huge  factory  of  sentiment,  of 
character,  of  points  of  honor,  of  conceptions  of  con- 
duct, of  everything  that  finally  determines  the  destiny 
of  a  nation.  The  theater  is  not  only  a  place  of  amuse- 
ment, it  is  a  place  of  culture,  a  place  where  people 
learn  to  think,  act,  and  feel."  Especially  is  this  true 
of  the  large  cities.  One  has  only  to  walk  along  Four- 
teenth Street  near  Union  Square  in  New  York  to  see 
hordes  of  drama-hungry  youngsters  gazing  voraciously 
at  the  florid  signs  of  the  penny  arcades  and  "  gem- 
theaters."  One  longs  to  put  a  wholesome  children's 
theater  into  this  very  spot  with  Robert  Louis  Steven- 
son's immortal — 


Come  up  here,  oh  dusty  feet, 
Here  is  fairy  bread  to  eat," 


painted  in  larger  letters  over  the  door.  Dramas  might 
be  presented  here  that  would  send  their  child-audiences 
out  into  the  dingy  thoroughfare  fortified  with  visions 


PLAYER  AND  AUDIENCE  39 

of  imaginative  beauty.  The  players  might  be  non- 
professional ;  the  admittance  fee  within  the  reach  of  all. 
And  it  is  an  actual  fact  that  children  prefer  the  best 
in  drama  when  it  is  given  to  them.  They  will  desert 
cheap  melodrama  in  favor  of  imaginative  drama  nine 
times  out  of  ten ;  and  it  is  a  boon  beyond  estimate  that 
they  can  have  the  auditoriums  of  the  New  York  Public 
Schools  in  which  to  work  out  their  plays,  and  in  work- 
ing, grow.  Nothing  is  more  needed  than  that  our 
public  schools  should  become  our  community  theaters, 
the  home  of  children's  plays  the  country  over. 

Community  Benefit 

What  of  the  fathers  and  mothers  of  the  child-play- 
ers? What  of  their  older  sisters  and  brothers?  One 
of  the  greatest  things  the  movement  for  children's 
plays  has  done  is  the  way  it  has  drawn  people  together. 
In  country  districts  people  come  for  miles  to  see  the 
production  of  a  children's  play.  But  it  is  in  the  city 
that  the  greatest  benefits  are  derived.  A  performance 
of  one  of  Shakespeare's  plays  on  the  East  Side,  by  a 
cast  of  young  immigrants,  resulted  in  arousing  an  inter- 
est in  the  fathers  and  mothers  who  could  speak  no 
English.  The  children  explained  the  play  to  them. 
Cheap  editions  were  bought  and  read.  And  presently 
work-worn  parents  who  never  stepped  beyond  their  own 
thresholds  after  nightfall  became  suddenly  eager  to  see 
what  had  so  enthralled  their  children.  Older  brothers 
and  sisters  went  "  to  find  out  what  the  young  ones 


40  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

were  doing."  It  was  a  get-together  time  for  the  whole 
neighborhood,  a  time  of  family  and  community  pride. 

To  quote  again  from  the  bulletin  of  The  Educa- 
tional Dramatic  League,  "  To  a  vast  number  of  people 
the  theater  is  prohibitive  in  price,  but  with  the  players 
drawn  from  the  700,000  school  children  of  New  York, 
all  the  young  wage-earners,  and  with  the  free  use  of 
the  school  auditoriums,  good  plays  can  be  produced 
with  practically  no  cost  to  the  community.  It  will  also 
bring  into  the  lives  of  the  fathers  and  mothers,  as 
well  as  the  young  people,  a  wholesome  and  enjoyable 
social  companionship.  The  work  is  being  carried  on 
largely  in  the  congested  districts,  where  the  parents  of 
the  children  have  little  time,  and  less  money  for  amuse- 
ments. The  plays  bring  recreation  nearer  to  them, 
with  the  added  joy  that  their  children  are  creating  this 
means  of  pleasure."  Other  cities  might  follow  this 
example. 

All  of  the  young  players  enrolled  in  the  League, 
although  they  come  from  different  parts  of  the  city, 
genuinely  and  heartily  co-operate  with  one  another.  If 
a  special  or  trial  performance  is  coming  ofF,  and  illness 
of  a  player  threatens  to  make  production  impossible, 
offers  of  assistance  from  other  clubs  who  are  rehearsing 
the  same  play  are  immediately  made.  They  cheerfully 
and  interestedly  help  one  another,  and  are  glad  to 
substitute  players,  costumes,  settings,  and  properties. 
This  is  the  spirit  that  a  great  city  needs.  "  So  many 
young  people  come  to  New  York  to  start  life  filled 
with  the  spirit  of  love  of  amusement,  and  from  lack  of 


PLAYER  AND  AUDIENCE  41 

knowledge  of  where  and  how  to  obtain  it  form  bad 
habits  and  make  detrimental  acquaintances;  others  who 
move  from  one  community  to  another  feel  equally 
adrift,"  The  League  keeps  a  list  of  clubs  in  different 
neighborhoods,  so  as  to  be  of  assistance  to  those  who 
wish  to  join  a  club  in  a  given  community.  This  might 
be  done  elsewhere,  in  many  of  our  cities. 

Dramatic  clubs  for  children  fostered  in  school  or 
settlement  carry  their  impetus  far  beyond  school  or 
settlement  room.  The  Educational  Dramatic  League 
reports  a  benefit  given  by  children  for  the  Prison  Asso- 
ciation. Colored  children,  under  a  League  director, 
produced  a  play  in  their  own  clubroom,  once  for  their 
mothers,  once  for  the  children  of  the  neighborhood. 
Then  they  went  a-field  and  gave  the  play  at  the  Lincoln 
Hospital  for  aged  couples  and  the  Colored  Orphan 
Asylum.  This  is  an  idea  containing  distinct  community 
benefit. 

Our  public  schools  as  community  theaters  can  be  and 
should  be  a  socializing  force  for  player,  for  audience, 
for  community  at  large.  The  more  difficult  the  task, 
"  the  more,"  as  Jane  Addams  says,  "  does  the  effort 
need  help  and  direction,  both  in  the  development  of 
its  technique  and  the  material  of  its  themes.  The  few 
attempts  that  have  been  made  in  this  direction  are 
astonishingly  rewarding  to  those  who  regard  the  power 
of  self-expression  as  one  of  the  most  precious  boons  of 
education." 


Ill 


HOW    TO    PRODUCE   CHILDREN'S 
PLAYS 

Th^  director  of  a  children's  play  stands  to  the  chil- 
dren in  the  relation  that  the  director  of  an  orchestra 
does  to  his  players.  It  is  the  business  of  the  director 
of  the  orchestra  to  control  and  guide,  to  see  that  the 
violins  shimmer  and  the  'cellos  throb  at  the  right  mo- 
ment. He  must  bring  the  utmost  out  of  the  players 
as  individuals,  and  of  the  orchestra  as  a  whole.  He 
must  interpret  the  symphony  as  the  musician  who  wrote 
it  intended  it  should  be  interpreted.  This  is  also  the 
task  of  the  director  of  children's  plays,  who  must  bring 
out  all  the  sweetness,  the  unconscious  grace,  and  child- 
like charm  of  the  child-players,  and  yet  keep  to  the 
original  purpose  of  the  playwright.  The  director 
must  know  the  play  backward  and  forward,  must  recog- 
nize the  points  to  be  emphasized,  and  move  toward  the 
climax  with  a  sharp  or  gradual  crescendo  as  the  play 
demands. 

Every  play,  long  or  short,  has  its  rhythm,  just  as 
music  has.  There  is  not  only  the  rhythm  of  the  whole 
play,  but  a  rhythm  for  each  act,  and  innumerable 
crescendos  and  diminuendos.     These  signs  guide  the 

4a 


CHILDREN'S  PLAYS  43 

orchestra,  and  it  is  the  greatest  pity  that  there  are  no 
signs  to  guide  the  director  of  children's  plays.  If  one 
could  only  say,  "  Fast  here.  Slow  here.  Wistful 
lightness  here,"  and  so  on,  what  wonders  might  not  be 
accomplished.  The  children's  playwright  could  indi- 
cate largo,  presto,  and  grazioso  with  a  happy  hand ! 
But  since  no  play  signs  exist,  the  director  must  gather 
as  much  as  possible  from  a  thorough  reading  of  the 
text  and  play  directions.  One  of  the  greatest  faults 
of  the  average  play  given  by  amateurs,  whether  adults 
or  children,  is  the  slowness  of  its  tempo.  A  remedy 
for  this  will  be  discussed  later  on. 

The  orchestra  director  may  select  a  whole  symphony, 
or  a  programme  of  short  pieces.  The  play  director  may 
choose  a  long  or  a  short  children's  play.  If  a  short 
play  is  chosen,  and  only  runs  twenty  minutes  when 
you  meant  it  to  run  half  an  hour,  or  when  it  runs 
twenty-five  minutes  when  you  meant  it  to  run  forty, 
do  not  lengthen  it  by  devices  of  your  own.  Better 
a  programme  of  two  or  even  three  one-act  plays  than 
that  utter  abomination,  "  a  short  play  made  long 
enough."  Better  something  brief  and  exquisite  than 
something  long  and  patchy.  We  all  know  the  type  of 
dramatic  entertainment  that  is  "  good  in  spots,"  like 
the  unhappy  curate's  soft-boiled  egg.  A  children's 
play  is  not  a  minstrel  show.  It  does  not  need  inter- 
polations. To  put  in  an  "  extra  "  dance  or  song  often 
destroys  its  symmetry.  You  do  not  lengthen  a  sona- 
tina by  devices  of  your  own ;  why  lengthen  a  children's 
play?    Trust  the  author.    The  chances  are  that  if  he 


44  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

wrote  the  play  he  knows  as  much  and  perhaps  even  a 
little  more  than  the  producer  who  is  directing  it  for 
the  first  time. 

A  good  test  of  a  play  is  its  suitability  for  all  occa- 
sions. Between  a  stage-play  and  a  school  play  should 
lie  only  the  difference  of  environment.  A  school  play 
should  contain  such  simple  elemental  dramatic  values 
that,  if  suddenly  transplanted  to  the  stage,  it  would 
still  retain  them.  A  stage-play  for  child-audiences 
that  cannot  be  stripped  of  its  ornamental  trappings 
without  losing  its  charm  for  schoolroom  audiences  is 
fundamentally  not  a  play  for  children.  Jessie  Braham 
White's  version  of  Snow  White  as  produced  by  Win- 
throp  Ames  is  an  example  in  point.  With  its  beauti- 
fully simple  scenery  and  costumes  it  was  a  delightful 
thing  for  children  to  see  on  the  professional  stage;  yet 
read,  not  even  acted  in  a  New  York  schoolroom,  it 
proved  enthralling  to  an  audience  of  children  who  had 
never  seen  it  on  the  stage. 

Of  late  years,  since  plays  for  children  have  become 
part  of  the  school  curriculum,  standards  of  produc- 
tion are  being  raised.  Plays  for  children  are  no  longer 
chosen  at  haphazard.  They  must  have  a  certain  ethical 
and  literary  value.  The  time  has  come  when  child- 
drama  is  as  carefully  selected  as  children's  music.  The 
best  music  teachers  will  not  tolerate  trashy  ragtime. 
The  best  producers  of  children's  plays  will  not  tolerate 
vapid  drama  and  slovenly  enunciation.  Besides  exer- 
cising more  care  in  play  selection,  the  world  at  large 
has  come  to  realize  that  play-producing  is  an  art  in 


CHILDREN'S  PLAYS  45 

itself,  and  play-producing  for  children  a  very  delicate 
and  subtle  one.  Child-drama  should  have  lines  as 
straight  and  delicate  as  a  Boutet  de  Monvel  painting. 
Everything  should  be  naive  and  simple,  and  yet  the 
production  should  have  the  art  which  conceals  art. 

The  first  thing  to  do  in  producing  a  children's  play 
is  to  ask  yourself  questions,  and  their  answer  will 
naturally  help  you  to  decide  what  sort  of  play  you  wish 
to  undertake,  long  or  short,  simple  or  complex,  though 
if  children  have  never  acted  before,  it  is  well  to  begin 
with  a  short  one.  Is  it  to  be  in  the  country  or  city? 
Indoors  or  out  of  doors?  For  a  school  or  settlement? 
Is  the  cast  to  be  large  or  small?  All  boys?  All  girls? 
Or  girls  and  boys?  Do  you  wish  to  produce  the  play 
for  the  sheer  joy  of  doing  something  that  will  have 
artistic  and  educational  value?  Is  it  to  celebrate  some 
national  holiday?  Or  is  it  part  of  a  pedagogical 
scheme  ?  Is  it  to  be  given  as  a  means  of  raising  money 
for  some  school  or  settlement  ?  In  which  case  you  must 
perforce  make  a  good  showing,  and  give  the  kingliest 
boy  the  kingliest  part.  Or  are  you  free  to  give  the 
most  round-shouldered  boy  the  kingliest  part  to  make 
him  hold  himself  erect?  Will  it  be  possible  to  train 
two  casts  so  that  both  kingly  and  round-shouldered 
boys  can  have  a  chance  at  it?  For  this  is  the  ideal 
way.  Always  train  two  casts  w^hen  possible.  One 
supplements  the  other.  Then,  what  sort  of  a  play  are 
you  going  to  give?  A  modern  play?  A  fairy  play? 
An  historical  play,  or  a  nature  play? 

If  expensive,  or  the  most  inexpensive  costumes  are 


46  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

out  of  the  question,  choose  a  modern  play,  and  let  the 
children  wear  their  everyday  clothes.  A  national  holi- 
day calls  for  a  play  that  is  appropriate  to  the  time.  If 
your  players  have  been  studying  Lincoln,  why  not  give 
a  Lincoln  play  ?  A  nature  play  suggests  itself  as  fitted 
for  a  camp ;  a  morality  play  is  good  for  a  guild,  or  for 
the  Lenten  season ;  while  for  almost  all  occasions,  in- 
doors or  out,  that  hardy  perennial,  the  fairy  play,  can 
be  depended  on.  Emigrant  and  native-born  children 
enjoy  them  equally.  "  Fairy  tales,"  says  Gilbert  Ches- 
terton, "are  our  only  democratic  institution:  all  the 
classes  have  read  all  the  fairy  tales." 

While  it  is  not  always  wise  to  leave  the  entire 
selection  of  a  play  to  children,  never  force  a  play  on 
them.  They  must  have  delight  and  pride  in  what 
they  do  or  it  avails  them  nothing.  Take  something 
suited  to  their  environment  and  temperament.  Above 
all,  select  something  that  is  too  difficult  rather  than 
something  too  easy:  children  despise  what  they  feel  is 
beneath  their  powers.  For  the  "  gang,"  eager  for  ex- 
citement, no  quiet  play  will  do:  a  rousing  patriotic 
play,  something  that  centers  about  a  hero,  or  a  play 
with  Indians  in  it,  makes  a  strong  appeal  to  the  gang 
spirit.  Boy  Scouts  are  keen  for  plays  of  the  open: 
something  that  suggests  the  camp  fire  or  the  trail.  For 
Camp  Fire  Girls,  plays  of  Indian  legends,  or  pioneer 
life  are  appropriate.  Boys  in  a  country  school  are  also 
eager  to  act  Indian  or  pioneer  plays;  while  for  country 
girls  the  fairy  play  is  best  to  begin  with.  The  country 
child  lacks  imagination.    Country  life  is  usually  a  life 


CHILDREN'S  PLAYS  47 

of  fact.  There  are  no  fairies  out  beneath  the  moon ; 
no  dryads  in  the  trees;  no  river  spirits  in  the  brooks. 
Therefore,  country  children  need  fantastic  plays.  For 
emigrant  children  who  speak  little  English,  try  a  folk- 
play  of  their  own  nation,  put  into  English  words.  It 
will  give  them  an  idea  of  the  value  of  the  arts  of  their 
own  land.  If  their  parents  come  to  see  it  they  can 
probably  understand  a  part,  at  least,  of  what  is  going 
on,  and  it  will  be  a  bond  drawing  the  family  together. 
If,  as  sometimes  happens,  you  have  a  group  of  girls 
of  varj'ing  ages,  the  youngest  seven,  the  oldest  thirteen 
or  fourteen,  try  a  morality  play  in  which  the  char- 
acters have  no  particular  age,  when  they  represent  quali- 
ties rather  than  personalities.  For  a  boys'  or  girls' 
camp  use  a  nature  play  that  will  carry  with  it  some 
knowledge  of  woodcraft  or  animal  lore.  For  the 
settlement,  the  camp,  or  garden,  a  fairy  play  comes  into 
use.  It  is  also  the  best  play  to  use  for  defectives. 
Plays  with  an  outdoor  setting  should  be  produced  in 
the  tenement  districts  where  the  people-who-have-too- 
little  forget  what  trees  and  grass  look  like,  forget  the 
beauty  of  forest-green. 

Whatever  play  you  select,  be  sure  of  three  things: 
that  it  has  literary  quality,  dramatic  quality,  and  that 
it  contains  an  idea.  By  literary  quality  is  meant  that 
the  language  should  be  poetic.  There  is  no  benefit  in 
the  memorizing  of  commonplace  lines.  By  dramatic 
quality  is  meant  that  the  play  should  have  an  interest- 
ing plot,  with  a  climax.  Lack  of  climax,  or  culminat- 
ing point,  is  the  lack  of  most  children's  plays.     That 


48  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

the  play  should  contain  an  idea  means  that  it  should 
teach  some  dominant  truth  either  subtly  or  openly.  It 
may  be  either  the  great  lesson  of  courage  in  adverse  cir- 
cumstances, or  the  simple  lesson  that  happiness,  like 
the  Blue  Bird,  can  be  found  at  home. 

The  range  of  emotion  in  child-drama  is,  of  course, 
restricted :  such  things  as  money-lust,  power-lust,  vice, 
social  ambition,  despair,  or  trickiness  do  not  exist  for 
normal  children.  They  are  beyond  their  range. 
Neither  should  children's  plays  contain  love-making 
or  sentiment.  In  acting  such  scenes  they  are  merely 
aping  emotions  that  they  have  never  felt,  and  acting 
for  children  should  be  as  direct  and  sincere  as  it  is 
possible  to  make  it.  It  should  carry  with  it  a  dis- 
tinct atmosphere  of  simplicity  and  candor.  There 
should  be  no  straining  after  effect,  no  appeal  that  does 
not  spring  directly  from  the  heart.  The  child  should 
be  expressing  his  or  her  inward  self — not  acting,  in  the 
adult  sense  of  the  word.  For  this  reason  the  characters 
which  children  represent  should  be  those  of  a  common 
and  deep  humanity.  It  would  be  ideal  if  children 
could  always  act  characters  of  their  own  years,  whose 
feelings  they  could  at  once  appreciate.  But  since  this 
is  not  always  possible  the  other  folk  who  figure  so 
largely  in  children's  plays — quaint  fairies,  peasants, 
trolls,  woodcutters,  and  the  like — should  have  that 
artlessness  that  is  akin  to  the  artlessness  of  child- 
hood. 

Suppose  the  play  is  chosen,  and  the  director  ready  to 
rehearse    it.      Gather   the   children    together   and   set 


CHILDREN'S  PLAYS  49 

the  dates  for  the  rehearsals,  so  that  there  can  be  no  mis- 
take, no  excuses  about  attending.  Find  out  the  after- 
noons or  early  evenings  that  are  nearest  to  suiting 
everybody.  No  hard  and  fast  rule  for  the  number  of 
rehearsals  required  can  be  given  here.  Twenty  re- 
hearsals should  suffice  for  a  somewhat  long  and  com- 
plex play,  with  a  month  to  six  weeks  to  rehearse  it  in. 
Ten  rehearsals,  undertaken  in  three  weeks  to  a  month, 
should  suffice  for  a  one-act  play;  but,  of  course,  all 
depends  on  the  mental  equipment  of  the  players.  Too 
long  a  time  in  play  preparation  "  stales  "  the  players. 
They  lose  their  interest.  For  little  children  rehearsing 
should  not  occupy  more  than  two  weeks,  and  the  play 
should  be  very  short.  Length  of  rehearsal  hours  differs 
according  to  the  ages  of  the  players.  For  those  in  the 
grammar  grades  an  hour  and  a  half  at  a  time  should 
be  the  most.  If  attention  seems  to  flag,  and  the  chil- 
dren are  tired,  it  will  often  be  advisable  to  shorten 
the  time.  For  little  children  half-hour  rehearsals  are 
sufficient.  And  for  children  from  eight  to  eleven  years 
old  an  hour's  rehearsal  is  sufficient. 

The  final  or  dress  rehearsal  will  always  be  longer 
than  any  of  the  others,  and  in  setting  a  date  for  it, 
extra  time  must  be  allowed,  particularly  in  the  case  of 
a  long  play.  Three  rehearsals  a  week  make  a  whole- 
some average.  But  the  director  must  judge  about  this, 
using  tact  and  common  sense  in  all  things,  and  avoid- 
ing strain  to  the  players. 

As  has  been  suggested,  if  the  children  have  never 
acted  before,  begin  with  a  simple  play,  preferably  in 


50  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

one  act.  And  whether  children  have  ever  acted  before 
or  not,  the  method  of  producing  the  play  is  exactly 
the  same;  for,  like  everything  else  in  the  world,  play- 
producing  for  children  has  a  right  way  and  a  wrong 
way,  a  way  that  leads  nowhere  and  a  way  that  makes 
for  genuine  accomplishment. 

There  are  two  ways  of  selecting  the  cast.  First, 
competitive  choice;  second,  having  the  cast  chosen  by 
the  director.  In  competitive  choice,  a  selection  from 
the  play  is  read  by  all  the  children  in  rotation.  The 
one  that  puts  the  most  fervor  or  imagination  into  the 
reading  of  the  lines  is,  by  general  vote,  selected  for 
the  leading  part.  Then  the  one  to  fill  the  next  part 
is  chosen.  The  most  important  parts  are  filled  first; 
then  the  less  important.  It  is  made  clear  to  the  play- 
ers that  merit  decides  the  choice.  If  two  casts  are 
trained,  the  players  who  have  the  most  important  parts 
in  the  first  cast  are  given  the  least  important  parts  in 
the  second  cast.  This  serves  two  purposes.  It  gives  all 
the  players  a  chance,  and  prepares  for  any  emergency 
that  may  arise.  If  one  player  is  ill  on  the  eve  of  per- 
formance, another  can  take  his  place.  Moreover,  it 
develops  discipline.  If  a  player  knows  that  slackness 
or  inattention  on  his  part  will  result  in  another  player's 
having  it,  he  sets  himself  more  ardently  to  the  task  in 
hand.  If  the  children  are  undisciplined,  have  it  under- 
stood that  two  absences  from  rehearsal  without  suffi- 
cient excuse  will  debar  them  from  the  part  originally 
assigned. 

When   the   cast   is  chosen  by  the   director   let   the 


CHILDREN'S  PLAYS  51 

children  understand  from  the  first  that  they  are  to 
abide  by  that  choice.  If  the  director  apportions  the 
parts  according  to  remedial  reasons,  see  that  the  slug- 
gishly inclined  children  have  brisk  parts,  that  the  shy 
child  has  something  appealing  to  say  and  do,  that 
the  bumptious,  forward  child  plays  a  character  who 
is  controlled  and  quiet.  Unless  there  is  some  ex- 
ceedingly good  reason  for  it,  do  not  deviate  when  once 
the  parts  have  been  assigned.  If  some  of  the  children 
are  to  be  put  in  charge  of  the  properties,  scenery,  or 
lighting,  select  children  on  whom  you  can  depend,  dis- 
cuss and  apportion  their  duties  at  this  first  meeting. 
If  properties  must  be  made,  all  the  children  in  the  cast 
must  agree  to  help.  It  will  be  well  to  set  a  date  when 
they  will  meet  and  make  them. 

As  soon  as  all  the  parts  are  assigned,  have  the  chil- 
dren read  the  play  aloud  in  rotation,  each  child  read- 
ing when  the  character  assigned  to  him  begins  to  speak. 
This  is  the  time  when  faults  in  pronunciation,  in  dic- 
tion, in  sing-songiness  can  be  broken.  Accustom  them 
from  the  first  to  the  right  way  of  doing  things.  It  is 
easier  to  be  correct  from  the  first  than  to  hark  back  and 
undo  what  has  already  been  done.  If  a  child  reads  a 
line  incorrectly  more  than  once  it  is  apt  to  become  a 
habit.  If  the  children  make  the  character  they  are  in- 
terpreting speak  in  a  peculiar  way,  ask  them  why  they 
do  it.  Get  at  their  reasons.  Show  them  logically  why 
another  way  might  be  better,  or  why  their  way  is  good. 
Discuss  the  play  and  its  characters  as  they  go.  A  good 
deal  has  been  said  nowadays  about  letting  children 


52  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

interpret  their  own  ideas  of  a  character.  This  is  an 
excellent  thing,  stimulating  alike  the  player  and  direc- 
tor. But  it  can  be  carried  too  far.  A  child  may  often 
interpret  a  character  wrongly.  We  do  not  expect  a 
child  to  interpret  music  entirely  as  to  his  own  ideas, 
pedaling  when  he  pleases,  playing  pianissimo  or  forte, 
as  the  spirit  moves  him.  All  character  interpretation 
should  be  subject  to  the  molding  influence  oi  class  dis- 
cussion and  the  analysis  of  the  play.  For,  after  the 
play  has  been  read  once  around  by  the  cast  it  is  time 
for  one  of  the  most  important  parts  of  play-producing 
to  begin:  namely,  play  analysis.  This  means  a  full 
discussion  of  all  the  points  of  the  play,  an  example  of 
which  is  given  in  the  next  chapter. 

Discussion,  analysis,  and  play-reading  will  probably 
occupy  the  first  two  rehearsals  of  a  one-act  play;  but 
at  the  close  of  the  first  rehearsal  have  the  players 
understand  that  at  the  third  rehearsal  they  are  to  be 
letter-perfect  in  their  lines,  and  that  no  actual  acting 
will  occur  until  this  has  been  accomplished.  Thus 
any  child  who  lags  in  fulfilling  this  duty  is  made  to 
realize  that  he  or  she  is  holding  back  all  the  rest,  and 
the  general  eagerness  to  "  begin  to  act  the  story  "  will 
wing  their  memories  as  nothing  else  can. 

The  third  rehearsal  is  a  line  rehearsal.  That  is,  a 
rehearsal  for  lines  only.  Have  them  go  through  the 
play  from  memory  twice,  prompting  only  when  abso- 
lutely necessary.  The  first  time  they  may  go  slowly, 
so  as  to  correct  mistakes,  and  the  second  time  briskly, 
as  if  the  actual  performance  were  going  on.     Correct 


CHILDREN'S  PLAYS  53 

here,  suggest  there.  Have  them  from  the  first  take 
up  their  cues  with  the  utmost  celerity.  If  all  is  not  as 
it  should  be,  never  make  a  child  nervous  by  nagging. 
Tell  him  that  his  interpretation  will  do  for  the  pres- 
ent, and  then  work  with  him  a  little  after  the  others 
have  gone.  Or  have  him  come  early  at  the  following 
rehearsal.  Encouragement  and  praise  will  do  wonders 
for  a  backward,  nervous  child.  The  director  should 
recognize  effort  and  the  will  to  do,  no  matter  how 
cloaked  or  hidden  by  inability  or  mistakes.  At  the  end 
of  this  third  rehearsal  take  up  a  little  of  the  actual 
acting,  so  that  the  children  will  not  think  you  are  too 
long  in  getting  to  the  "  fun  "  of  the  play. 

Rough  out  the  whole  play  at  the  next  rehearsal,  so 
that  the  players  will  have  an  idea  of  what  it  is  going 
to  be.  Have  the  players  move  quickly  and  quietly 
through  their  exits  and  entrances,  and  know  their 
positions  on  the  stage.  Begin  to  work  with  properties 
from  the  first,  so  that  the  players  will  become  accus- 
tomed to  them.  If  a  basket  of  fruit  or  a  fairy  wand  is 
to  be  used,  have  them  on  hand.  It  does  not  matter  if 
the  basket  of  fruit  is  a  grape  basket  filled  with  rubber 
balls,  and  the  wand  a  blackboard  pointer  or  cane.  The 
easy  use  of  them  is  the  thing  to  be  gained.  Do  not  be 
discouraged  if  this  rehearsal  does  not  come  up  to  your 
expectations.     Remember  that  it  is  only  in  the  rough. 

At  the  next  rehearsal  begin  to  mold  the  performance. 
See  that  the  right  points  are  emphasized.  Repeat 
scenes  till  they  have  the  finish  which  they  ought  to 
have.    Be  sure  that  your  rehearsals  are  taking  place  in 


54  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

a  room  of  the  right  size;  that  is,  a  size  as  nearly  like 
the  stage  where  the  play  will  actually  be  performed  as 
possible.  Too  cramped  a  room  will  make  all*  the  mo- 
tions of  the  children  cramped,  and  to  rehearse  in  too 
large  a  room  when  the  stage  is  to  be  smaller  will  con- 
fuse them  dreadfully.  If  you  must  rehearse  in  a  room 
that  is  either  too  large  or  too  small,  try  to  have  one 
early  rehearsal  on  the  stage  where  the  play  will  finally 
be  given,  and  let  the  children  make  allowances  for 
space  in  their  later  work.  This  is  one  of  the  most  try- 
ing things  that  directors  have  to  deal  with.  Always 
rehearse  on  the  stage  that  will  be  used  on  the  final  day, 
if  possible. 

At  the  fifth  or  sixth  rehearsal,  if  you  are  training 
two  casts,  one  cast  can  watch  another  cast  at  work. 
Do  not  permit  whispering  or  sotto  voce  remarks  while 
rehearsals  are  going  on  by  those  who  are  not  rehearsing. 
Sound  and  movement  are  distressing  to  those  who  are 
trying  to  do  their  best.  This  is  another  rule  that 
should  be  understood  from  the  first. 

If  the  play  happens  to  have  a  large  number  of 
supernumeraries  (players  whose  presence  is  necessary 
to  the  play,  but  who  have  few  or  no  lines)  have  a  re- 
hearsal for  them  alone.  Don't  let  them  stand  idly  on 
your  stage,  staring  blankly  at  the  audience.  If  they  are 
fairies,  see  that  they  form  exquisite  fairy-like  groups. 
If  they  are  to  form  a  still  background,  see  that  they  are 
well  posed  and  natural.  Give  them  comfortable  posi- 
tions that  they  can  hold  easily.  If  they  are  to  form  an 
animated  background,  give  them  plenty  of  stage  busi- 


CHILDREN'S  PLAYS  55 

ness,  i.e.,  silent  action  or  pantomime.  Let  them  sug- 
gest as  much  of  the  stage  business  as  possible.  Suppose 
it  is  a  market  scene.  Have  them  buying  and  selling. 
Have  the  driving  of  hard  bargains  going  on  in  the 
background,  while  the  main  characters  talk  in  the  fore- 
ground. But  if  something  unusually  exciting  is  occur- 
ring to  the  main  characters,  then  have  all  the  buj'crs 
and  sellers  crowding  up  on  tiptoe  with  curiosity,  with 
gaping  "What  is  this?"  or  with  head-wagging  of 
"  I  told  you  this  might  be  expected !  "  In  other  words, 
have  your  play  instinct  with  vitality.  Have  it  like  life. 
If  you  find  the  supernumeraries  do  not  do  good  panto- 
mime work,  put  lines  into  their  mouths.  Have  them 
rehearse  with  these  lines  spoken  aloud  at  first,  and  later 
spoken  silently,  only  the  lips  moving.  This  method 
will  be  found  very  useful.  It  helps  many  children  to 
keep  from  appearing  wooden.  It  also  gives  them  a  feel- 
ing that  their  part  is  worth  while.  The  good  work  of 
the  principal  players  is  often  rendered  less  effective  by 
the  lifeless  quality  of  the  supernumeraries.  Make  the 
supernumeraries  feel  that  they  are  needed  and  they 
will  respond.  They  are  the  accompaniment  of  the 
theme  carried  by  the  principals,  and  as  necessary  to  the 
play  as  bass  notes  to  a  piece  of  music.  Their  action  is 
necessary  to  the  completeness  of  the  play.  And  it  is 
perhaps  at  this  juncture  that  the  amateur  director 
should  be  warned  of  the  pitfalls  of  dragging  action. 
Just  because  some  of  the  action  of  the  supernumer- 
aries happens  to  be  amusing  or  picturesque,  don't  give 
too  much  of  it.    Then  it  drags.     Make  it  swift,  clear, 


56  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

and  pictorial.  Do  not  let  it  encroach  on  the  work  of 
the  main  players.  Do  not  over-emphasize  it.  If  there 
is  a  humorous  bit  of  by-play,  do  not  repeat  it.  The 
second  time  it  will  fall  flat. 

Put  the  supernumeraries  and  principals  through  a  re- 
hearsal after  you  have  rehearsed  the  supernumeraries 
alone,  and  note  the  difference.  Never  have  the  super- 
numeraries come  to  a  rehearsal  where  they  are  not 
needed.  Get  on  without  them  unless  their  presence  is 
absolutely  necessar}':  for  many  children  find  it  dis- 
couraging to  come  when  they  have  nothing  to  do. 

Have  a  rehearsal  for  scene-setting  and  lighting,  if 
your  scene-setter  and  property  man  are  chosen  from  the 
children  themselves.  Of  course  this  scene-setting  and 
lighting  may  not  involve  more  than  seeing  that  a 
drapery  of  curtains  is  right,  and  that  chairs  and  tables 
can  be  put  in  their  proper  places  without  too  much 
noise  and  confusion.  If  there  is  a  good  deal  of  furni- 
ture to  be  moved,  assign  certain  pieces  of  it  to  cer- 
tain young  scene-shifters,  and  this  will  lessen  any  con- 
fusion. See  if  they  cannot  make  as  few  motions  as 
possible  in  coming  and  going  and  placing  the  various 
things  that  are  needed.  Have  the  head  scene-shifter 
keep  a  list  of  what  is  needed,  and  have  a  duplicate 
yourself.  Use  this  same  idea  with  the  properties.  If 
lighting  involves  seeing  that  a  red  bulb  is  turned  on 
for  a  hearth-light  effect,  or  simply  the  closing  of  shut- 
ters to  darken  the  assembly-room,  see  that  it  is  done 
promptly.     Make  someone  responsible  for  it. 

By  the  eighth  rehearsal  have  the  players  go  through 


CHILDREN'S  PLAYS  57 

the  play  entirely  on  their  own  responsibility  with  the 
director  sitting  in  front  as  audience,  quietly  jotting 
down  with  pencil  and  paper  any  mistakes  which  need  to 
be  rectified.  Do  not  interrupt  the  play  with  objections. 
Let  it  go  straight  ahead.  Prompt  the  players  when 
necessary.  When  the  rehearsal  is  over,  praise  the 
good  points;  deal  lightly  with  its  faults,  unless  they 
are  glaring  ones.  Suggest  a  few  things  that  need 
remedying.  Also,  while  the  rehearsal  is  in  progress, 
see  if  the  tempo  drags.  Are  the  cues  taken  up  too 
slowly?  This  is  one  of  the  greatest  faults  of  amateur 
productions.  If  the  cues  are  taken  up  too  slowly,  time 
your  play  while  the  players  are  acting  it.  Suppose  it 
takes  thirty-eight  minutes  when  it  should  take  thirty. 
To  pull  up  the  tempo,  make  them  race  through  it  at 
breakneck  speed  for  a  single  time,  not  acting,  just 
saying  the  lines,  and  getting  through  with  it  in  twenty- 
six  or  twenty-seven  minutes.  This  will  often  prove  of 
first  aid  to  injured  tempo. 

By  your  tenth  or  dress  rehearsal  of  a  one-act  play, 
everything  should  be  in  readiness.  Set  the  hour  of  re- 
hearsal half  an  hour  earlier  than  the  time  when  you 
really  expect  to  begin.  Getting  into  costumes  and  the 
general  flurry  and  excitement  always  cause  delay. 
The  dress  rehearsal  should,  if  possible,  take  place  two 
days  before  the  performance,  so  as  to  leave  a  margin 
for  rest,  or  final  touches.  Criticise  sharply  at  this  per- 
formance all  that  needs  criticising. 

Now  comes  performance.  If  the  director  is  to  have 
a  large  or  critical  audience,  and  is  nervous  over  the 


58  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

final  result,  do  not  let  the  players  know  it.  Encourage 
them.  Praise  them.  Stimulate  them  to  do  their  best, 
and  then  let  the  curtain  rise.  Never  sit  out  in  the 
audience.  Always  be  behind  the  scenes,  ready  for  an 
emergency.  Play  a  part  yourself,  if  necessary.  See 
that  absolute  quiet  is  maintained  behind  the  scenes,  and 
that  the  prompter  is  ready,  prompt-book  in  hand. 
Warn  your  players  that  if  their  lines  raise  laughter  or 
applause,  they  are  to  wait  until  the  laughter  or  ap- 
plause has  subsided,  and  then  continue  as  if  nothing 
had  happened. 

All  this  is  for  the  one-act  play.  If  the  children  are 
taking  part  in  a  three-  or  four-act  play,  first  analyze 
the  whole  play,  so  they  can  have  an  idea  of  it  in  its 
entirety,  its  story,  and  its  meaning.  Then  go  back. 
Read  the  first  act  in  rotation,  learn  its  lines,  and  be- 
gin a  roughed-in  rehearsal.  By  the  time  the  rehearsal 
of  the  first  act  is  being  roughed  in,  begin  work  on  the 
second  act,  reading,  learning  its  lines,  and  roughing 
it  in,  as  has  been  the  case  with  the  first  act.  When 
it  is  learned,  lessen  the  rehearsals  of  the  first  act,  and 
put  in  more  time  on  the  second  act.  As  soon  as  your 
second  act  is  being  roughed  out,  swoop  to  your  third 
act,  and  rehearse  that  twice  as  hard  as  you  do  your  sec- 
ond act.  A  rough  first  act  and  an  uneven  second  act 
are  not  as  bad  as  a  ragged,  half-worked  last  act.  It  is 
better  to  begin  less  well  and  go  up  than  to  begin  finely 
and  come  down.  Put  especial  stress  on  the  climax  of 
your  play.  This  must  come  out  clearly,  whatever  else 
happens.    But  the  whole  thing  should  run  as  smoothly 


CHILDREN'S  PLAYS  59 

as  possible.  Catch  the  riiythm  of  it,  if  you  can,  though 
a  feeling  for  rhythm  in  a  play  only  comes  with  prac- 
tice in  producing.  Be  especially  careful  of  the  tempo 
of  your  last  act.  See  that  the  play  is  not  "  spotty," 
good  and  then  less  good  throughout. 

For  an  outdoor  play  have  the  children  rehearse  in- 
doors first.  Select  your  play  site  carefully.  If  pos- 
sible, have  it  so  that  the  sun  does  not  shine  directly  in 
the  faces  of  the  players.  After  you  have  had  two  or 
three  indoor  rehearsals,  take  your  play  into  the  open. 
See  that  the  voices  carry  clearly,  and  that  the  panto- 
mime is  effective.  Step  off  to  where  the  last  row  of 
the  audience  is  to  sit,  and  judge  this  for  yourself.  Re- 
member that  outdoor  work  can  be  broader  than  indoor 
work.     As  much  detail  is  not  necessary  for  it. 

Remember  that  when  you  are  producing  a  children's 
play  you  are  setting  a  standard.  Whether  that  stand- 
ard is  bad  or  good  will  rest  far  more  with  you,  the 
director,  than  the  child-players  whom  you  guide  and 
control. 

Schoolroom  Productions 

A  word  should  be  said  here  about  schoolroom  pro- 
ductions, where  scenery  or  even  curtains  cannot  usu- 
ally be  had,  and  where  the  money  for  properties  and 
costumes  is  usually  nil.  A  play-production  in  a  school 
auditorium  is  one  thing;  but  all  schools  do  not  have 
auditoriums  and  a  schoolroom  production  calls  for 
great  ingenuity  if  it  is  to  carry  with  an  atmosphere  of 
reality  or  fantasy.    It  need  hardly  be  said  that  for  the 


6o  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

production  of  children's  plays  as  wide  a  use  as  possible 
should  be  made  of  the  school  auditorium.  If  the  school 
is  in  the  country  or  suburbs,  it  is  often  possible  to 
give  a  play  out  of  doors.  But  what  of  the  city  or  small 
town  school,  with  no  chance  of  either  auditorium  or 
outdoor  production?  The  best  thing  that  can  be  done 
in  this  case  is  to  utilize  the  material  at  hand  in  the  most 
imaginative  manner  possible.  Use  the  space  in  front 
of  the  desks  for  an  indoor  play  or  a  play  that  does 
not  require  much  action.  For  a  play  that  must  have 
space,  in  w^hich  there  is  action  that  must  have  free 
play,  why  not  utilize  the  whole  schoolroom? 

A  whole  schoolroom  as  a  stage  was  used  in  one  of 
the  public  schools  of  New  York  City  in  a  very  won- 
derful way.  The  children,  with  the  help  of  their 
teacher,  had  constructed  a  simple  play  from  Frances 
Hodgson  Burnett's  The  Secret  Garden,  the  story  hav- 
ing been  read  aloud  in  the  schoolroom  before  actual 
dramatization  began.  The  scenes  of  the  play  were  laid 
partly  indoors  and  partly  out  of  doors.  The  indoor 
scenes  were  acted  in  the  space  in  front  of  the  desks, 
which  became  a  room,  with  the  teacher's  desk  and 
chair  as  part  of  its  furniture,  while  the  garden  was 
represented  by  the  desk  space  and  the  desks,  the  garden 
being  the  aisles  between  the  desks!  And  how  was  the 
feeling  of  the  garden  given?  For  weeks  beforehand 
the  hoys  and  girls  had  been  making  tissue-paper  flowers. 
They  were  fastened  to  stems  and  branches  and  lay  on 
the  desks  in  front  of  the  players.  As  soon  as  the  char- 
acters in  the  play  stepped  from  the  house  into  the  gar- 


CHILDREN'S  PLAYS  6i 

den,  the  players  at  the  desks  slowly  raised  and  waved 
the  flowers  that  lay  in  front  of  them.  They  were 
mostly  pink  and  white  blossoms,  with  here  and  there  a 
touch  of  blue  and  pale  gold — for  the  children  had  been 
reading  what  flowers  would  be  likely  to  grow  in  an 
English   garden. 

And  suddenly  the  everyday  schoolroom  was  trans- 
formed, flooded  with  color  and  blossom.  But  more 
than  this.  The  boys  had  been  practicing  bird  calls! 
The  moment  the  flowers  were  raised  and  the  garden 
bloomed,  there  came  a  shrill,  sweet  chorus  of  black- 
bird whistles,  robin  notes,  a  lilt  from  the  thrush,  and 
a  dozen  other  twitterings  that  the  boys  had  learned 
from  someone  who  visited  a  settlement  in  their  neigh- 
borhood. The  schoolroom  was  a  garden  for  the  time 
being!  And  the  children  whose  only  playground  was 
the  city  streets  were  transported  to  "  England  in  the 
springtime,"  where  hawthorn  bloomed  and  robins 
sang!  And  there  was  utility  as  well  as  ideality,  for 
later  on  the  same  flowers  were  used  for  a  spring  festival. 
The  whole  production  of  the  play  was  a  triumph  of 
mind  over  matter.  It  represented  a  miracle  that  could 
be  worked  by  any  other  teacher  who  uses  her  imagina- 
tion, and  induces  her  pupils  to  cultivate  theirs.  They 
had  learned  about  English  gardens,  about  flowers,  and 
about  birds.  Somehow,  as  one  thinks  of  it,  is  there  not 
at  once  something  valiant  and  pathetic  in  the  thought  of 
city  sparrows,  many  of  whom  had  never  seen  a  garden, 
joyously  imitating  blither  songbirds  whose  days  are 
spent  in  free,  sweet  meadows,  under  blossoming  boughs! 


62  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

The  Making  of  Programmes 

The  making  of  programmes  requires  care.  Repeat- 
ing an  effect  or  an  idea  should  be  avoided.  If  three 
plays  of  the  same  period  are  used  they  should  show 
varying  aspects  of  that  period.  All  things  considered, 
in  dealing  with  historical  plays,  it  is  wiser  to  put  them 
chronologically. 

Usually  it  is  safest  to  put  your  shortest  play  first, 
and  your  longest  play  last.  Try  to  place  your  most 
finished  bit  of  work  at  the  end,  where  it  will  be  twice 
as  telling  as  at  the  beginning. 

If  you  are  producing  two  fairy  plays,  have  them  on 
different  themes.  If  you  are  producing  two  plays  at 
Christmas,  have  one  modern  and  the  other  a  costume 
play.  There  is  a  lift  to  costume  plays  for  amateurs 
that  modern  plays  do  not  have.  A  programme  of  one- 
act  plays  might  consist  of  one  folk  play  and  one  history 
play ;  or  a  modern  piay  and  a  fairy  play.  A  humorous 
play  should  come  first  and  an  idyllic  play  last  in  a 
programme  where  both  are  combined.  If  you  are  giv- 
ing a  curtain-raiser  to  a  little  two-  or  three-act  fairy 
play  have  something  modern  or  a  nature  play  for  your 
shorter  piece. 

It  is  a  good  idea  for  groups  of  settlements,  or  for 
different  grades  in  a  public  school  to  study  a  one-act 
play  or  episode.  If  there  are  ten  or  twelve  of  such 
episodes  a  pageant  can  be  formed  at  the  end  of  the 
year.  Have  your  play  appropriate  to  its  season.  Do 
not  have  a  play  from  which  your  audience  can  gain  no 


CHILDREN'S  PLAYS  63 

pleasure.  Do  not  expect  them  to  like  the  classical  at 
first  sight.  You  will  probably  have  to  begin  with 
something  light  or  amusing. 


What  is  Needed  for  the  Furtherance  of  the 
Children's  Play  Movement 

A  higher  and  more  imaginative  standard  in  plays 
throughout  the  country. 

Greater  care  and  knowledge  used  in  play-production 
as  regards  simple  scenery,  costumes,  and  properties. 

A  wider  use  of  the  school  auditorium  as  a  benefit  to 
the  community. 

The  use  of  plays  in  country  schools  as  related  not 
only  to  the  school,  but  to  the  life  of  the  community. 

The  utilization  of  material  at  hand,  such  as  open-air 
plays  on  the  common  or  village  green  instead  of  in  a 
stuffy  schoolroom.  The  use  of  unoccupied  barns  for 
children's  community  theaters  in  summer;  of  the  town 
hall  for  the  same  purpose  in  winter. 

A  greater  interchange  between  public  school,  social 
settlement,  church  guild,  and  social  center.  In  the 
children's  play  movement  there  is  already  discernible 
a  certain  waste  of  effort  and  of  art.  A  children's  play 
is  made  to  serve  one  purpose  when  it  ought  to  serve 
ten.  Usually  a  play  is  given  once  or  twice  in  a  settle- 
ment or  school,  and  there  is  an  end  of  it.  What  could 
be  done  is  this:  the  play  might  be  given  in  the  school 
before  an  audience  of  children,  then  before  an  audience 
of  fathers  and  mothers.    Then  it  might  be  taken  to  the 


64  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

nearest  settlement  and  repeated  there,  to  the  nearest 
church  guild  and  repeated  there.  What  about  other 
places  to  which  it  might  be  giving  joy?  What  about 
homes  for  the  aged?  What  about  orphan  asylums? 
Children's  wards  in  hospitals?  What  about  utiliz- 
ing a  hall  in  or  near  a  factory  ?  The  play  movement  is 
doing  a  great  deal,  but  not  half  what  it  might.  The 
children  in  district  X  go  to  the  settlement  in  district 
X,  and  to  the  school  in  district  X.  Why  not  inter- 
change with  their  plays? 

The  social  settlements  of  Boston  interchange  plays 
and  players  with  splendid  results.  All  the  thought  and 
effort  that  go  to  the  directing  of  a  play  might  be 
made  to  serve  a  number  of  communities  instead  of  one, 
and  much  social  waste  could  be  avoided.  Interchange 
in  the  large  cities  would  do  a  great  deal  toward  draw- 
ing the  vast  conglomerate  mass  together. 

It  is  a  pity  that  a  simple  outdoor  stage,  such  as  is 
used  in  Palermo  and  other  Italian  cities,  could  not  be 
utilized  in  tenement  districts.  It  somewhat  resembles 
the  floats  that  were  used  in  medieval  miracle  plays 
and  pageants,  only  it  is  smaller,  and  has  two  screens 
for  wings.  This  stage  could  be  set  up  in  a  city  street 
and  plays  could  thus  be  acted  out  of  doors. 

All  schools,  settlements,  and  guilds  should  own  their 
own  stage  equipment.  The  children  should  be  taught 
to  take  delight  in  adding  to  the  collection  of  scenery, 
properties,  and  costumes.  The  boys  who  take  manual 
training  can  make  the  furniture.  The  girls  can  learn 
to  make  simple  costumes,  and  to  dye  them. 


IV 
PLAY  ANALYSIS  FOR  CHILDREN 

Two  short  plays  and  suggestions  for  their  analysis  are 
given  in  this  chapter,  so  that  teachers  and  amateur  di- 
rectors may  use  them  as  a  basis  for  analyzing  other 
plays  for  children.  The  first  is  a  very  simple  dramatiza- 
tion of  Browning's  Pied  Piper  for  the  lower  grades 
and  younger  children,  and  the  second,  for  the  gram- 
mar grades  and  older  children,  is  Christina  Rossetti's 
Pageant  of  Months.  There  are  several  reasons  for 
this  choice.  One  of  them  is  that  the  Pied  Piper  and  the 
Pageant  of  Months  can  be  found  in  any  public  library, 
and  so  are  easily  available  for  teachers  and  students. 
Another  reason  is  that  in  learning  their  lines  the  chil- 
dren will  be  absorbing  the  best  literature.  In  the  little 
dramatization  of  Browning's  poem  only  two  of  the 
lines  are  not  his.  All  the  rest  have  been  taken  directly 
from  the  poem.  Moreover,  these  two  selections  repre- 
sent two  types  of  drama:  the  first  is  full  of  action  and 
has  a  definite  plot  and  climax,  while  the  second  is  static 
and  appeals  through  the  beauty  of  its  unusualness  and 
the  charm  of  its  lines.  It  should  be  kept  in  mind  that 
beauty  is  not  always  requisite  for  a  play;  but  it  is 
requisite  for  a  pageant.     Also  the  Pied  Piper  uses  a 

65 


66  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

great  many  characters,  and  has  what  might  in  a  small 
way  be  termed  "  mass  effect,"  while  the  Pageant  of 
Months  depends  on  individual  acting.  In  the  Pied 
Piper  the  supernumeraries  and  what  they  do  are  as  im- 
portant to  the  action  of  the  play  as  was  the  chorus  to 
the  old  Greek  drama.  In  the  Pageant  of  Months 
there  are  no  supernumeraries. 


THE  PIED  PIPER 
(A  Play  in  One  Act  from  Browning's  Poem) 

CHARACTERS 

The  Pied  Piper. 

The  Mayor. 

First  Member  of  the  Corporation. 

Second  Member  of  the  Corporation. 

Justina,  a  young  girl. 

Abraham,  an  old  man. 

Rudolf,  a  stranger. 

Bertha,  his  wife. 

Gretchen,  daughter  of  the  Mayor. 

Hans,  a  boy. 

Else 

Agathe 

Ernestine 

Wilhelmina 


;.  Market  Women. 


PLAY  ANALYSIS  67 

Plodder 

Frisker 

Greychin 

Prickwhisker  y  Rats. 

Brown-Ear 

Grey-Ear 

Black- Ear 

Townspeople   of   Hamlin.     Other   Market  Women. 

Members  of  the  Corporation,     Children,  Boys 

and  Girls.     Rats. 

Place:  Hamlin  in  Brunswick,  1376. 

Scene:  A  Market  Place.  There  are  trees  in  back- 
ground, and  at  back  and  sides.  Those  at  left  are  very 
thick,  as  are  those  at  background.  Else,  Wilhelmina, 
Agathe,  and  Ernestine  enter.  They  are  accom- 
panied by  JuSTlNA  and  her  grandmother,  as  well  as  by 
children,  who  help  them  set  up  their  stalls  and  mer- 
chandise. Old  Abraham  enters,  leaning  on  his  cane. 
The  stalls  are  set  up  at  right  and  left.  There  are 
none   in   background. 

While  they  are  being  set  up  the  rats  Greychin, 
Frisker,  and  Prickwhisker  peep  out  from  right. 
They  are  joined  by  other  rats,  and  as  soon  as  the  stalls 
are  all  set  up  they  rush  out.  They  upset  the  stalls, 
overturn  the  cradle,  and  carry  off  a  cheese  in  their 
flight.  The  women  run  and  scream  and  there  is  gen- 
eral confusion.  All  the  stalls  are  righted  again,  and 
the  children  go  toward  background  and  disappear. 
Then    down    from    background    come    Rudolf    and 


68  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

Bertha,  and  several  customers  who  begin  to  buy  at 
the  stalls. 

Rudolf 
What  place  is  this  ? 

Abraham 

'Tis  Hameline  Town  in  Brunswick, 

By  famous  Hanover  City. 

The  river  Weser,  deep  and  wide, 

Washes  its  walls  on  the  southern  side ;  [Points. 

A  pleasanter  spot  you've  never  spied 

I'll  warrant,  as  through  the  land  you  go; 

But  to  see  our  townsfolk  suffer  so 

From  vermin  is  a  pity. 

[Man  and  his  wife  look  curious. 
Rats! 
They  fight  the  dogs  and  kill  the  cats. 

Agathe 
And  bite  the  babies  in  their  cradles. 

Else 
And  eat  the  cheeses  out  of  the  vats! 

Ernestine 
And  lick  the  soup  from  the  cooks'  own  ladles! 

Wilhelmina 
Split  open  the  kegs  of  the  salted  sprats. 


PLAY  ANALYSIS  69 

Abraham 
Make  nests  inside  men's  Sunday  hats! 

Else 
And  even  spoil  the  women's  chats 

By  drowning  their  speaking 

With  shrieking  and  squeaking 
In  fifty  different  sharps  and   flats! 

JUSTINA 

(Looking  off  in  background) 
Here  come  the  people  in  a  body 
From  the  town  hall  flocking. 

Else 
(To  the  Travelers) 
Oh,  it's  clear  our  Mayor's  a  noddy! 
And  the  corporation — shocking! 

[Mayor  and  Corporation  come  down 
from  background,  with  townspeople 
following  and  muttering  amongst  them- 
selves. 

Agathe 
To  think  we  buy  gowns  lined  with  ermine 
For  dolts  that  can't  or  won't  determine 
What's  best  to  rid  us  of  our  vermin! 

IfFomen  nod  to  confirm  her  shrill  remark. 
There  is  a  muttered  "Ah-a-a!  Ah- 
a-a!  "  in  rising  cadence  from  the  townS' 
folk. 


70  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

Ernestine 

(To  Mayor) 

You  hope,  because  you're  old  and  obese, 
To  find  in  the  furry  civic  robe,  ease. 

WiLHELMINA 

(To  Mayor  and  Corporation) 

Rouse  up,  sirs,  give  your  brains  a  racking 
To  find  the  remedy  we're  lacking! 
Or,  sure  as  fate,  we'll  send  you  packing! 
Let  the  Mayor  break  silence! 

Mayor 

For  a  guilder  my  ermine  gown  I'd  sell ; 
I  wish  I  were  a  mile  hence! 
It's  easy  to  bid  one  rack  one's  brain — 
I'm  sure  my  poor  head  aches  again, 
I've  scratched  it  so  and  all  in  vain. 
Oh,  for  a  trap!  a  trap!  a  trap! 

[The  Pied  Piper  enters  unperceived  from 
background.  He  plays  two  short 
squeaks  on  his  pipe. 

Else 
Oh,  did  you  hear  a  gentle  tap? 

Mayor 
Bless  us!    What's  that? 
Anything  like  the  sound  of  a  rat 


PLAY  ANALYSIS  7< 

Makes  my  heart  go  pit-a-pat ! 

[All  turn  and  perceive  the  PiPER,  a  slender 
figure  with  light  loose  hair  and  swarthy 
skin.  He  wears  a  cloak  that  is  half  red, 
half  yellow.  All  look  at  him  with  th^ 
greatest  possible  interest. 

Abraham 

It  is  as  if  my  great  grandsire 

Starting  up  at  the  trump  of  Doom's  tone 

Had  walked  this  way  from  his  painted  tombstone! 

JUSTINA 

(To  a  marketer) 
Faith,  he's  like  a  prince,  though  he  wears  no  sable ! 

Townsfolk 

Look !     Look ! 

The  Pied  Piper 

Please  your  honors,  I'm  able 
By  means  of  a  secret  charm  to  draw 
All  living  creatures  beneath  the  sun 
That  creep  or  swim  or  fly  or  run 
After  me  as  you  never  saw! 
And  chiefly  I  use  my  charm 
On  creatures  that  do  people  harm, 
The  mole,  the  toad,  the  newt,  the  viper, 
And  people  call  me  the  Pied  Piper. 


72  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

Yet,  poor  Piper  that  I  am, 

In  Tartary  I  freed  the  Cham 

Last  June  from  his  huge  swarm  of  gnats; 

I  eased  in  Asia  the  Myzam 

Of  a  monstrous  brood  of  vampire  bats; 

And  as  for  what  your  brain  bewilders 

If  I  can  rid  your  town  of  rats 

Will  you  give  me  a  thousand  guilders? 

Mayor 
One  ?    Fifty  thousand  guilders  there'll  be ! 

The  Pied  Piper 
Come  with  me  and  you  shall  see! 

[They  troop  out  background,  the  Mayor 
and  Piper  leading.  Justina  lingers  to 
help  her  old  grandmother,  who  must  go 
slowly.  While  the  grandmother  is  pick- 
ing up  her  things  JuSTINA  has  run  to 
look  at  what  was  passing,  and  reports  as 
she  helps  her  grandmother  toward  back- 
ground. 

JUSTINA 

Into  the  street  the  Piper  stept 
Smiling  at  first  a  little  smile 
As  if  he  knew  what  magic  slept 
In  his  quiet  pipe  the  while. 

[From  the  distance,  grouring  fainter,  comes 
the  sound  of  a  pipe  magically  bloum. 


PLAY  ANALYSIS  73 

Then,  like  a  musical  adept, 
To  blow  the  pipe  his  lips  he  wrinkled 
And  blue  and  green  his  sharp  eyes  twinkled, 
Like  a  candle  flame  where  salt  is  sprinkled ! 

[JUSTINA  and  her  grandmother  exeunt, 
background.  Just  as  they  go  Frisker 
appears  at  left,  down  stage,  and  peers 
out  between  the  stalls.  Again  the  pipe  is 
heard,  this  time  far,  but  very  gradually 
coming  nearer. 

Frisker 
Leave  your  cheeses  and  pickletubs  hollow! 
Hark  where  the  pipe  plays  "  Follow!     Follow!  " 

Plodder 
(Joining  Frisker) 
At  the  first  shrill  notes  of  the  pipe 
I  hear  a  sound  as  of  scraping  tripe! 

[He  rushes  away,  background. 

Frisker 
(Dancing) 
And  putting  apples  wondrous  ripe 
Into  a  cider  press's  gripe! 

\^He  dances  away,  background. 

Grfjtchin 

(Appearing  and  smacking  his  lips) 
And  moving  away  of  pickletub  boards, 


74  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

And  a  leaving  ajar  of  conserve  cupboards, 
And  a  dragging  the  corks  of  train  oil  flasks  .   .   . 

[He  rushes  out,  background. 

Prickwhisker 
And  a  breaking  the  hoops  of  butter  casks! 

Brown-Ear 

And  it  sounds  as  if  a  voice 
Sweeter  far  than  by  harp  or  by  psaltery 
Breathes  and  calls  out:  "Oh,  rats,  rejoice! 
The  world  is  grown  to  a  great  drysaltery!  " 

[Brown-Ear  followed  by  two  other  rats 
dashes  out,  background. 

Grey-Ear 

(Ecstatic) 

So  munch  on,  crunch  on,  take  your  nuncheon, 
Breakfast,  dinner,  supper,  luncheon! 

[He  goes  out,  background. 

Black-Ear 

Leave  your  cellars  and  pickletubs  hollow! 

Hark  where  the  pipe  cries  "  Follow!     Follow!  " 

[Black-Ear  followed  by  a  dozen  other  rats 
dashes  out,  background.  Just  as  they 
disappear,  left  background,  from  right 
background  walks  the  PiED  PiPER,  and 


PLAY  ANALYSIS  75 

after  him  a  troop  of  rats.  He  leads 
them  round  and  round  the  stage,  more 
and  more  rats  joining  him.  Then  sud- 
denly he  comes  straight  down  the  stage, 
wheels  at  the  front  and  goes  straight 
for  background,  the  rats  following.  At 
left  the  townspeople  begin  to  appear. 

First  Member  of  Corporation 

The  Piper  has  turned  along  the  street 
To  where  the  Weser  rolls  its  waters, 
And  has  drowned  the  rats  and  their  sons  and  daughters! 
[He  embraces  the  man  nearest  him  in  his 
joy. 

Mayor 

(To  Boy) 

Go  and  tell  the  Hamline  people 

To  ring  the  bells  till  they  rock  the  steeple ! 

First  Member  of  Corporation 

Aye,  be  swift  and  get  long  poles, 

Poke  out  the  nests  and  block  up  the  holes. 

Mayor 

Consult  with  carpenters  and  builders 
And  in  the  town  leave  never  a  trace 
Of  the  Rats. 


76  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

The  Pied  Piper 
(Quietly  appearing  in  their  midst) 

First,  please,  my  thousand  guilders. 

[Dead  silence. 

The  Townsfolk 
(Whispering  together) 
A  thousand  guilders!    The  Mayor  looks  blue! 
So  does  the  Corporation,  too. 

First  Member  of  Corporation 

(Aside  to  the  Mayor) 
Our  council  dinners  make  rare  havoc 
With  Claret,  Moselle,  Ver  de  Grave,  Hock. 

Second  Member  of  Corporation 
(Aside  to  the  Mayor) 
And  how  this  money  would  replenish 
Our  cellar's  biggest  butt  with  Rhenish ! 

Mayor 
(To  the  Pied  Piper) 
Our  business  was  done  at  the  river's  brink: 
We  saw  with  our  eyes  the  vermin  sink, 
And  what's  dead  can't  come  to  life,   I  think. 
So,  friend,  we're  not  the  folks  to  shrink 
From  the  duty  of  giving  you  something  to  drink, 
And  a  matter  of  money  to  put  in  your  poke. 


PLAY  ANALYSIS  77 

But  as  for  the  guilders,  what  we  spoke 
Of  them,  as  you  very  well  know,  was  a  joke. 
Besides,  our  losses  have  made  us  thrifty. 
A  thousand  guilders!     Come,  take  fifty. 


The  Pied  Piper 

No  trifling.     I  can't  wait.     Besides 
I've  promised  to  visit  by  dinner  time 
Bagdad  and  accept  the  prime 
Of  the  head  cook's  pottage — all  he's  rich  in, 
For  having  left  in  the  Caliph's  kitchen 
Of  a  nest  of  scorpions  not  one  survivor. 
With  him  I  proved  no  bargain  driver. 
With  you,  don't  think  I'll  bate  a  stiver. 
And  folks  who  put  me  in  a  passion 
Will  find  me  pipe  in  another  fashion. 

Mayor 

How,  Piper!     D'ye  think  I'll  brook 

Being  treated  worse  than  a  cook? 

Insulted  by  a  lazy  ribald 

With  idle  pipe  and  vesture  pibald. 

Do  you  threaten  us,  fellow?     Do  your  worst. 

Blow  your  pipe  until  you  burst. 

[The  Mayor  strides  angrily  away.  Piper 
blows  a  few  notes  on  his  pipe.  Children 
come  scampering  out,  right  and  left  and 
from  background,  and  stand  enraptured. 


78  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

The  Pied  Piper 

Come  away  to  a  joyous  land 

Joining  the  town,  and  just  at  hand. 

[Children  lau^h  and  clap  their  hands, 
crowding  about  him. 

There  are  fruit  trees,  streams  all  silver  blue: 

And  flowers  put  forth  a  fairer  hue 

And  everything  is  strange  and  new, 

The  sparrow  there  is  the  peacock's  peer. 

The  dog  outruns  your  fallow  deer, 

The  honey-bees  have  lost  their  stings. 

And  horses  are  born  with  eagles'  wings! 

[Children  cry  out  delightedly.  Their 
mothers  touch  them  on  their  shoulders. 
But  the  children  do  not  heed.  They 
have  eyes  for  no  one  but  the  PlED 
Piper.  He  rises,  blows  a  few  notes, 
then  pauses. 

You'll  find  it  lying  South  by  West, 

If  to  Koppelberg  hill  your  steps  are  addressed. 

Come  away. 

[The  children  start  to  follow.  The  Towns- 
folk cry  out. 


Townsfolk 


Stay!     Stay! 


The  Pied  Piper 
Our  business  was  done  at  the  rivers  brink. 


PLAY  ANALYSIS  79 

What's  gone  can  never  come  back,  I  think. 

\_To  the  Children. 
Come  away! 

Townsfolk 

Nay !    Stay ! 

[The  Pied  Piper  plays  and  the  Children 
follow  him  out  background. 

Mayor 
We  cannot  follow  where  he  has  led. 
Our  feet  are  suddenly  made  of  lead. 

[JUSTINA  is  near  the  trees  in  background. 
She  speaks  from  there. 

JUSTINA 

The  Piper  has  turned  to  the  High  Street; 
'Tis  where  the  Weser  rolls  its  waters 
Right  in  the  way  of  your  sons  and  daughters! 

Townsfolk 
Ah! 

JUSTINA 

Now  he  has  turned  from  South  to  West 
And  to  Koppelberg  hill  his  steps  are  addressed. 

Mayor 
He  can  never  cross  that  mighty  top! 


8o  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

Else 
He'll  be  forced  to  let  the  piping  drop! 

WiLHELMINA 

And  we  shall  see  the  children  stop. 

JUSTINA 

No!    No!    They  have  reached  the  mountain's  side. 

A  wondrous  portal  has  opened  wide! 

As  if  a  cavern  were  suddenly  hollow — 

The  piper  plays  and  the  children  follow. 

They  all  are  in,  to  the  very  last, 

And  the  door  in  the  mountain  side  shut  fast! 

[At  this  last  word  the  people  regain  their 
power  of  moving. 

Mayor 
Send  East,  send  West,  send  North,  send  South, 
And  offer  the  Piper  by  word  of  mouth 
Wherever  it  is  man's  lot  to  find  him 
Silver  and  gold  to  his  heart's  content. 
If  he'll  only  return  the  way  he  went, 
And  bring  the  children  behind  him. 

WiLHELMINA 

Alas!    Alas!    'Tis  a  lost  endeavor! 

The  Piper  and  children  have  gone  forever! 

\_As  the  people  turn  sadly  and  go  away,  old 
Abraham  stands  for  a  moment  like  one 
speaking  the  Epilogue  and  says: 


PLAY  ANALYSIS  8i 

Abraham 
So,  Audience,  let  you  and  me  be  wipers 
Of  scores  out  with  all  men — especially  Pipers. 

END  OF  PLAY 


Discuss  the  kind  of  person  each  character  is,  and  his 
or  her  relation  to  the  play,  when  necessary. 

Evidently  the  play  begins  in  a  square,  so  we  can 
give  the  play  indoors  in  winter  or  outdoors  in  sum- 
mer. In  the  summer  have  a  place  with  grass  and 
trees,  or  screens  built  of  branches.  In  the  winter, 
green  hangings  and  pine  trees.  Or  a  city  street.  (See 
chapter  on  Scenery.)  And  then  there  would  be  market 
stalls.  How  could  they  be  made?  Just  ordinary 
wooden  boxes  could  be  made  to  do,  and  on  them  put 
cheese  and  butter  boxes.  Then  there  would  be  apples, 
and  some  bright  colored  vegetables  like  carrots,  and 
perhaps  a  small  keg  of  herring.  What  other  things 
would  there  be?  Wouldn't  covering  a  round  wooden 
butter-box  or  even  a  small  collar-box  with  orange- 
yellow  tissue  paper  make  it  look  like  a  huge  cheese? 
And  how  would  a  cradle  be  made?  (See  Properties.) 
So  much  for  the  scene-setting.  Now  for  the  cos- 
tumes? 

What  kind  of  clothes  would  they  wear  in  the  four- 
teenth century?  Who  can  tell?  What  was  the  style 
of  their  dress?  They  wove  and  spun  their  own  ma- 
terial, did  they  not?    What  would  these  materials  be? 


82  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

Didn't  the  children  wear  high-waisted  little  dresses, 
with  straight  skirts  and  white  muslin  caps  or  coifs? 
What  did  the  Mayor  wear?  Read  the  text.  Who 
gave  him  this  ermine  cloak?  How  shall  we  make  it? 
(See  chapter  on  Costuming.)  The  Piper's  costume  is 
described,  his  cloak  was  half  red  and  half  yellow.  The 
other  people  must  have  worn  clothes  of  a  solid  color 
or  they  wouldn't  have  been  so  surprised  at  his. 

Now  the  Rats.  What  will  they  wear?  Were  they 
all  in  black?  Read  the  text,  and  see  what  their  names 
are.  That  will  help  you  decide.  Suppose  they  use 
muslin  for  their  costumes,  and  have  masks  of  the  same 
color  for  their  faces,  and  caps  with  ears.  And  whiskers, 
and  tails. 

Now  the  play  has  begun  and  the  people  have  come  in. 
How  will  Abraham  walk?  Why?  What  will  Justina 
do  when  the  rats  run  in  and  her  old  grandmother  can- 
not get  away?  Won't  she  try  and  shield  her  grand- 
mother, half  bending  over  her?  It  would  seem  so. 
How  will  the  travelers  look?  Will  they  have  packs 
on  their  backs?  How  will  they  act  when  they  hear 
about  the  rats?  Won't  they  want  to  run  away?  Ah, 
but  word  has  come  that  the  Mayor  is  coming.  The 
travelers  will  want  to  stay  and  see  what  the  man  who 
rules  this  rat-haunted   town  looks  like. 

And  how  does  the  Mayor  act?  What  sort  of  a 
man  is  he?  Read  the  text.  He  is  a  little  sorry  for 
himself,  isn't  he?  The  people  are  not  glad  to  see  him, 
evidently.  How  would  he  look  as  he  came  toward 
them?     Wouldn't  he  be  looking  shiftily   from   right 


PLAY  ANALYSIS  83 

to  left?  And  when  they  menace  him  wouldn't  he 
hold  a  cloak  in  front  of  his  face?  And  what  makes 
him  lower  it?  The  sound  of  a  tap.  Only  it  wasn't 
a  tap.  It  was  music.  And  now  we  behold  the  Pied 
Piper.  What  does  Pied  mean?  Do  the  people  feel 
that  this  man  is  strange ?  What  does  old  Abraham  say? 
Does  the  Piper's  speech  make  him  seem  like  one  of 
themselves,  or  stranger  still?  How  could  he  go  to 
so  many  far-off  countries  in  a  short  space  of  time? 
Do  you  think  he  flew  on  his  magic  cloak?  Did  you 
ever  hear  that  red  was  the  color  for  magicians  to  wear? 
It  was  the  hue  of  magic.  But  the  Piper's  cloak  is  half 
red  only.  Ah,  maybe  that  means  he  is  half  magic  and 
half  human.  What  sort  of  a  man  do  you  think  he  is? 
He  tells  about  himself  quite  frankly,  dbesn't  he? 
Where  he  has  been,  what  he  has  done,  and  what  he  can 
do.  He  comes  to  the  point  at  once.  Would  you  say 
he  was  honest,  and  trustworthy? 

What  does  the  Mayor  say  ? 

And  what  does  the  Piper  say  to  that?  Oh,  he  will 
show  them.  He  won't  just  talk  about  it.  What  sort 
of  a  man  does  that  make  him  out  to  be?  Now  the 
people  have  all  followed  the  Piper  off  the  scene,  except 
Justina  and  her  grandmother.  And  Justina  cannot 
help  looking  to  see  what  is  happening!  And  what  does 
she  see?  It  would  seem  that  the  Piper  is  stranger  than 
ever!  And  what  do  we  hear?  The  first  notes  of  his 
piping. 

Now  Justina  and  her  grandmother  have  gone,  and 
what  has  happened  ?  What  the  Piper  said  has  come  true ! 


84  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

The  rats  are  coming  out  of  their  holes.  What  seems 
to  be  the  chief  characteristic  of  the  rats  from  their 
conversation?  They  are  gluttons.  Isn't  that  why  we 
despise  them  so? 

Back  comes  the  Piper.  The  rats  have  followed  him 
away.  And  now  the  people  gather  excitedly  to  tell 
each  other  the  news.  Is  their  first  thought  to  thank 
or  to  praise  the  Piper?  Do  they  seem  to  be  grateful? 
What  do  they  say?  And  then  the  Piper  comes  back 
for  his  pay.  And  what  does  he  say?  He  asks  for  his 
money.  This  is  one  of  the  really  exciting  moments  in 
the  play.  Will  the  Mayor  give  it  or  won't  he?  Do 
you  think  the  Piper  doubts  that  he  will  get  it?  Honest 
people  expect  others  to  be  like  themselves,  do  they  not? 
The  Mayor  takes  counsel  with  his  two  followers  from 
the  Corporation.  What  sort  of  men  are  they?  Read 
the  text.  You  can  judge  them  by  what  they  say. 
What  do  the  people  do?  Do  they  urge  the  Mayor  to 
pay  at  once?  Is  the  Piper  angry?  What  does  he 
say?    Read  the  text. 

What  does  the  Mayor  reply? 

You  will  notice  that  now  the  Piper  does  what  is 
characteristic  of  him.  He  does  not  talk.  He  acts. 
What  does  he  do?  Do  you  think  that  his  telling  the 
children  a  story  makes  him  seem  even  more  wonderful 
to  them?     Why? 

What  do  the  people  do  when  they  see  the  children 
following  the   Piper? 

Does  anyone  think  of  calling  the  Piper  back  and 
offering  him  the  money? 


PLAY  ANALYSIS  85 

Why  were  the  townsfolk  unable  to  move  their  feet, 
do  you  think?  What  was  it  held  them?  Was  it  a 
spell?  Why  should  it  begin  just  as  the  children  were 
leaving,  and  stop  when  the  children  entered  the  moun- 
tain, and  the  door  was  closed  ? 

What  did  the  Mayor  do?  What  sort  of  a  man  does 
this  make  him  out  to  be?  Was  he  fit  to  be  Mayor? 
Were  any  of  the  townspeople  any  fitter? 

How  do  you  suppose  they  knew  that  the  children 
were  gone  forever?  Did  they  feel  it  in  their  guilty 
hearts?  What  does  the  end  of  the  play  say  about 
keeping  promises?  What  else  does  the  play  teach? 
Doesn't  it  teach  that  if  all  the  people  of  a  town  or 
a  nation  love  gold  too  much  that  they  may  lose  some- 
thing better  than  gold?  The  children  may  now  begin 
to  learn  the  lines  of  the  play  by  heart. 

For  an  analysis  of  The  Pageant  of  Months  first 
read  the  Pageant  aloud,  and  note  that  The  Pageant  of 
Months  cannot  rightly  be  termed  a  play.  It  has  no 
climax  or  culminating  point,  and  tells  no  definite 
story.  It  is  rather  a  series  of  pictures  and  of  moods. 
It  does  not  hold  one  between  fear  and  hope.  It 
arouses  only  gentle  expectation.  It  cannot  be  termed 
"  dramatic  "  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  word.  But  it 
does  interest  us  through  its  sheer  beauty;  and  it  gives 
us  an  enlivened  sense  of  the  change  and  color  of  the 
year.     This  is  its  central  theme,  or  idea. 

If  The  Pageant  of  Months  is  to  be  given  by  a  cast 
of  boys  and  girls,  divide  them  into  the  groups  indi- 


86  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

cated  in  the  Pageant.  Since  the  months  have  no  par- 
ticular sex,  changes  can  be  made  if  the  cast  has  more 
boys  than  girls,  or  vice  versa. 

Suppose  the  play  has  been  read  around  by  the  class. 
What  are  you  going  to  do  for  your  scene-setting? 
What  the  scene-set  really  requires  is  a  divided  stage, 
with  the  wall  of  the  cottage  running  down  the  center. 
One  half  of  the  stage  will  thus  be  the  interior  of  the 
cottage,  and  one  half  will  be  the  cottage's  open  grounds. 
This  is  impossible  except  for  expensive  stage  equip- 
ment. Therefore,  the  scene  must  be  one  thing  or  the 
other.  Which  shall  it  be?  A  woodland  outdoor  scene, 
or  an  indoor  scene?  Which  can  be  done  best?  Read 
the  text.  The  Pageant  begins  with  a  suggestion  of  cold 
weather.  This  could  not  be  suggested  in  a  green  gar- 
den or  wood.  Clearly  the  scene  must  be  laid  indoors. 
Let  it  be  set  in  the  large,  "  comfortable  cottage  "  that 
the  directions  call  for. 

There  would  be  an  open  hearth  at  one  end  and  a 
handsomely  made  settle  beside  it,  and  a  fur  rug  on  the 
bare  floor.  Bare  floors  must  be  used  because  there  is 
to  be  a  dance  at  the  end.    The  directions  call  for  it. 

"  A  table  on  which  the  breakfast  things  have  been 
left  standing,"  the  directions  say.  But  that  means 
January's  breakfast,  not  such  a  breakfast  as  mortals 
eat — coffee  and  eggs  and  bacon.  January  was  an  im- 
mortal and  would,  therefore,  eat  such  things  as  immor- 
tals delight  in.  There  would  be  a  very  white  loaf, 
and  perhaps  some  golden  honey  made  by  wild  bees — 
siuch  honey  as  you  read  of  in  Greek  mythology.    A  bowl 


PLAY  ANALYSIS  87 

of  lump  sugar  that  looks  like  frost-work.  A  tall  sil- 
ver tankard  or  pitcher  filled  with  ambrosia.  And  fruit 
— What  about  golden  apples  of  Hesperides?  And  then 
all  the  fairy  tales  and  poetry  books  talk  about  '*  jeweled 
fruits."  Isn't  it  possible  that  January  could  have  some 
of  those?  And  what  would  they  be  like?  Apples  that 
looked  like  huge  rubies,  and  oranges  of  gold.  But 
where  shall  such  fruits  be  found  ?  Have  you  never  seen 
them  growing?  Think.  Why,  they  grow  on  Christ- 
mas trees!  And  they  are  called  Christmas  decorations. 
Have  two  platters,  or  bowls,  heaped  high  with  them. 
And  would  the  tablecloth  be  like  other  tablecloths? 
Perhaps  it  would  be  a  strip  of  purple,  edged  with  gold, 
or  of  scarlet,  edged  with  silver.  And  what  would  the 
dishes  be?  Gold  and  silver  also.  (See  chapter  on 
Properties.) 

What  of  the  open  fire?  It  is  all  right  to  have  it  at 
the  first  when  January  is  there.  But  we  cannot  have  it 
when  July  and  August  are  there.  What  shall  be 
done?  When  May  enters,  can  she  not  put  a  green 
branch  over  it?  And  September,  the  month  of  passing 
leaves,  can  take  it  off  again.  Thus  it  will  be  a  symbol. 
The  poets  of  the  Far  East  used  to  speak  of  "  the  fire  of 
Spring,"  and  sometimes  you  find  it  alluded  to  in  Bo- 
hemian legends.  It  will  be  a  gay  scarlet  and  yellow 
and  orange  tissue-paper  fire,  of  course,  with  a  touch  of 
gray  for  ashes.  The  tree  branch  can  be  real,  or  be 
made  by  one  of  the  players. 

And  since  January's  house  is  not  like  other  houses, 
there  might  be  an  alcove  at  the  other  end  of  the  room 


88  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

from  the  fire,  with  green  hangings  the  color  of  forest 
trees.  When  these  hangings  are  parted  you  can  see 
that  there  are  other  green  hangings  in  the  alcove,  and 
a  pine  tree  or  two  standing  against  them.  (You  can 
manage  without  the  pine  trees,  if  you  must.)  It  will 
seem  as  if  January  would  step  into  the  out-of-doors  at 
a  moment's  notice,  if  he  wanted  to.  If  you  cannot 
afford  such  a  thing  as  a  cottage  set,  then  hang  the 
whole  scene  with  brown  or  green  curtains,  and  pretend 
the  rest.  In  this  case  you  cannot  have  a  hearth,  but 
you  can  have  a  brazier.  (See  directions  for  making 
one  under  Properties.) 

The  Pageant  calls  for  lambs.  Of  course  you  cannot 
have  them.  What  should  be  done?  Let  us  read  the 
lines.  February  says  "  Oh,  you,  you  little  wonder, 
come,  come  in."  One  has  no  right  to  change  the  words 
of  an  author,  but  perhaps  not  even  Christina  Rossetti 
herself  would  object  to  having  this  word  changed  to 
"  go."  That  would  mean  that  the  fold  was  just  out- 
side the  door,  and  the  lambs  and  sheep  were  going  to  it. 
The  word  "  go  "  instead  of  "  come  "  could  be  used 
through  the  rest  of  the  lines.  A  little  later  the  direc- 
tions say  that  February  retires  into  the  background. 
That  is  where  the  curtained  alcove  comes  in.  February 
can  go  into  that  and  disappear  from  view.  Wherever 
the  directions  say  that  the  characters  go  out  or  dis- 
appear from  view,  they  can  retire  into  this  alcove. 
Thus  the  problem  will  be  solved. 

Now  about  the  characters  themselves.  What  sort 
of   a   person    is  January?      Is  he    not    dignified    and 


PLAY  ANALYSIS  89 

stately?  And  surely  kind,  for  he  stirs  the  fire,  hoping 
that  whoever  is  passing  through  the  snow  will  have  a 
light.  And  next  to  people  his  second  thought  is  for 
animals.  And  what  will  January  wear?  Such  robes 
as  you  see  in  Greek  mythology^  or  in  the  pictures  of 
symbolic  characters  that  Dante  Rossetti  and  his  friend 
Burne-Jones  loved  to  paint.  Study  these  pictures. 
For  color,  his  robe  should  be  white.  And  is  he  old  or 
young? 

Now  the  robins  come  in.  They  are  small,  so  chil- 
dren can  play  them.  How  will  they  be  dressed? 
What  will  their  actions  be  ?  Will  they  hop  like  robins 
and  cock  their  heads  on  one  side?  Where  will  you 
find  how  to  make  their  costumes?  Look  at  the  cos- 
tumes in  The  Bird  Masque  by  Percy  MacKaye,  and 
that  will  help  you.  The  directions  say  that  they  pick 
up  crumbs  and  sugar.  Of  course  they  can't  stoop 
down  to  the  floor.  January  must  put  the  sugar  on  the 
edge  of  the  table. 

Now  comes  February.  Since  it  may  be  impossible  to 
have  a  glass  on  the  window-sill,  suppose  you  have  a 
clear  glass  bowl  on  the  table  where  the  wondrous 
fruits  are.     Now  the  robins  go  into  the  alcove. 

How  will  you  make  the  twittering  of  birds  for 
April?  Aren't  there  toys  that  make  sounds  just  like 
birds?  Could  not  two  or  three  play  at  once?  There 
is  no  music  for  April's  song.  Could  it  not  be  recited 
to  music?  How  would  Mendelssohn's  Spring  Song 
do? 

What  talk  of  birds  and  flowers  there  is  when  May 


90  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

arrives!  May  ought  to  be  able  to  tell  all  about  them. 
What  do  they  look  like,  and  where  do  they  grow? 

June  can  fall  asleep  on  the  settle,  in  front  of  the 
fire  that  is  now  covered  with  a  bough.  "  Laburnam  " 
and  "  the  arbor  "  can  be  the  curtained  alcove.  When 
December  comes  in  he  might  shake  off  snou^  from  his 
sleeves,  like  silver  powder. 

All  the  characters  have  now  been  discussed  and  cos- 
tumed, we  will  suppose.  The  end  of  the  Pageant  is 
reached.  November  and  December  are  on  the  scene. 
The  fire  is  burning.  December  is  "  weaving  a  gar- 
land." How  would  it  be  to  have  it  a  Christmas 
wreath  ?  Then  it  could  be  hung  up,  and  as  December 
was  hanging  it,  the  other  characters  could  come  in. 

Now  all  join  in  a  dance.  "  A  stately  measure,"  the 
directions  say.  What  shall  it  be?  How  would 
Dvorak's  Humoresque  do? 

If  people  in  the  audience  like  the  Pageant  very  much 
— as  no  doubt  they  wnll  if  the  parts  are  well  done — the 
dance  can  be  repeated.  It  can  either  be  the  same  dance 
or  a  different  one.  And  suppose  there  are  one  or  two 
encores?  Wouldn't  it  be  pretty  to  have  the  little  robins 
take  the  first  with  their  brisk  "  hop,  hop,  hop,"  and  then 
the  Months  the  second? 


COSTUMES:    WHAT   TO    SELECT 
AND    WHAT   TO    AVOID 

Correct  and  artistic  costuming  for  children's  plays 
involves  a  knowledge  of  historical  accuracy,  color,  and 
material. 

Study  the  best  costume  books,  and  histories  and  fairy 
tales  illustrated  by  well-known  artists.  See  if  the  au- 
thor of  the  play  has  not  given  directions  which  you 
can  follow. 

Historical  accuracy  is  a  rock  on  which  many  amateur 
directors  come  to  grief :  they  are  not  sure  of  their  cen- 
turies. Headgear  and  footwear  are  apt  to  be  of  one 
century  and  costumes  of  another. 

Select  your  costumes  with  reference  to  your  back- 
ground, so  there  will  be  no  color  clash.  Use  scarlet 
and  pink  very  sparingly.  They  put  other  colors  out  of 
countenance.  Do  not  costume  all  your  characters  in 
bright  shades.  It  makes  the  scene  confusing  to  the  eye. 
And  unless  you  are  producing  an  operetta,  do  not  cos- 
tume your  peasants  all  alike,  and  all  in  the  same  colors. 
Take  common  sense  as  your  guide.  Do  not  put  little 
peasant  girls  into  red  velvet  skirts  or  woodcutters  into 
satin  jackets.     Let  them  wear  the  plain,  rough  ma- 

91 


92  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

terials  that  they  would  naturally  have.  Strive  to  have 
your  costumes  appropriate.  Twenty  years  ago  fairies 
were  dressed  in  short,  stiff  white  skirts,  and  tight  star- 
spangled  bodices;  but  to-day  we  know  that  there  is 
nothing  stiff  or  starchy  about  a  fairy.  They  are  cos- 
tumed in  soft,  clinging  materials  suggesting  the  twi- 
light of  deep  woods,  the  glamour  of  mist  and  moon- 
shine. Do  not  put  weary  travelers,  explorers,  or 
pioneers  into  spick-and-span  raiment.  Their  garments 
should  show  the  dust  and  soil  of  travel.  See  that  the 
footgear  of  all  the  players  in  one  scene  belongs  to  the 
same  period.  See  that  your  fairies  and  spirits  wear 
sandals,  not  white,  high-heeled  slippers  or  high-heeled 
slippers  of  any  color. 

One  well-known  English  pageant  master  posted  this 
sign  where  it  could  be  read  by  all  groups  of  children 
taking  part  in  the  pageant:  "Keep  up  your  stockings. 
Have  your  footgear  all  alike."  This  might  also  be 
posted   by  the   director  of  children's  plays! 

Discuss  the  costumes  with  the  child-players  who  are 
to  wear  them.  It  is  perfectly  possible  for  a  costume 
to  have  historical  value,  to  be  in  harmony  with  its 
background,  and  yet  have  emotional  value  as  well.  A 
sinister  figure  might  be  all  in  black,  with  touches  of 
scarlet ;  innocency  in  white ;  while  a  pale,  tender  green, 
like  the  first  touch  of  spring,  would  be  for  something 
meant  to  suggest  youth  and  hope.  Woodsy  creatures 
would  wear  wood  colors,  and  so  forth.  Fairies  of  the 
dawn  would  be  in  dawn  color;  twilight  elves  would 
be  in  gray,  the  color  of  the  twilight.    A  morality  play 


COSTUMES  93 

recently  produced  by  a  cast  of  amateur  players  had  a 
background  of  deep  cream  color:  the  play  was  laid  in 
the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  century 
in  which  the  play  was  laid  naturally  decided  the  lines 
of  the  costumes;  but  to  the  youthful  players  themselves 
were  left  the  deciding  of  the  color  scheme,  aided  al- 
ways by  suggestions  from  the  director.  "  Love,"  said 
one  child,  "  should  wear  white,  because  the  thoughts 
of  Love  are  always  pure  and  fair."  This  decided  that 
all  the  colors  must  be  symbolical.  Wisdom,  by  com- 
mon consent,  was  attired  in  deep  purple,  a  royal  color; 
while  another  character,  Grumble,  must  be  all  in  black, 
since  grumbling  suggested  darkness.  "  And  Envy 
should  wear  green,"  cried  another,  "  because  people  are 
said  to  be  green  with  envy."  What  color  should  Van- 
ity wear?  This  was  a  difficult  question  to  decide. 
Pink,  blue,  and  yellow  were  all  discarded.  "  I  think," 
said  one  dark-eyed  girl,  "  that  Vanity  should  wear  a 
little  of  every  color."  Thus  an  imitation  brocade  was 
decided  on  for  Vanity.  This  shows  how  symbolic  cos- 
tumes can  be  designed. 

See  that  the  players  wear  their  hair  in  a  mode  that 
corresponds  to  their  costumes.  Do  not  put  modem 
head-dressing  and  ancient  costumes  together.  Study 
authentic  pictures.  The  Greek  women  or  girls  wore 
their  hair  bound  in  a  chaplet.  In  Saxon  times  they 
wore  it  in  two  long  heavy  braids.  In  the  Middle 
Ages  girls  and  women  wore  their  hair  tucked  beneath 
a  cap  or  coif.  In  the  eighteenth  century  it  was  pom- 
padoured  and  powdered.    Peasants  and  Indian  maidens 


94  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

would  naturally  wear  their  hair  in  two  braids.  Wood- 
land spirits  and  little  dryads  would  naturally  wear  their 
hair  flying.  Unless  the  play  is  laid  in  the  present  time, 
or  in  the  days  of  the  Civil  War,  never  put  hair  ribbons 
on  the  children.  Above  all,  never,  never  put  them  on 
spirits,  fairies,  court  ladies,  Greek  maidens,  Puritans, 
Indians,  or  Colonials. 

Do  not  mix  the  costumes  of  two  centuries.  Unless 
otherwise  indicated  keep  the  lines  of  the  costumes  soft 
and  flowing.  Do  not  bunch  the  costumes  of  fairies 
and  spirits  with  too  many  petticoats. 

Make  the  simple  costumes  yourself.  They  will  have 
better  material,  lines,  and  color  than  those  obtainable 
from  costumers.  If  you  wish  to,  dye  them  the  desired 
shades,  although  the  color  range  of  what  you  can  buy 
is  now  much  larger  than  formerly. 

For  materials,  the  simplest  weaves  will  do  as  well  as 
the  most  ornate.  Use  cheesecloth  for  thin  material, 
such  as  fairy  dresses  and  Greek  robes.  Use  cambric 
and  silesia  to  simulate  satin,  cotton  crepon  or  silk  crepon, 
where  a  softer  and  heavier  material  than  cheese- 
cloth is  needed.  Use  silkoline  for  flowered  silk.  Use 
burlap  for  rough  peasant  suits  or  tunics;  hop-sacking 
for  others.  White  cotton-batting  with  black  tails 
basted  on  it  makes  ermine.  For  medieval  costumes  the 
pictures  in  illustrated  editions  of  Guizot's  Histories 
of  France  and  England  will  be  found  invaluable. 
Also  Boutet  de  Monvel's  Jeanne  D'Arc,  and  good  il- 
lustrated editions  of  Pilgrim's  Progress  contain  pic- 
tures  of   costumes   that   can   be   easily  copied.      For 


COSTUMES  95 

Grecian,  mythological,  and  neo-Grecian  costumes  The 
fVonder  Book  by  Hawthorne,  with  illustrations  by 
Walter  Crane,  has  some  very  charming  examples. 
For  different  periods  of  American  costume  try  Eggle- 
ston's  Illustrated  History  of  the  United  States,  and 
Costume  in  America  by  Elizabeth  McClelland.  All 
the  books  of  fairy  tales  edited  by  Andrew  Lang  have 
delightful  fairy  costumes  in  them.  For  costumes  of  the 
Holy  Land  see  The  Castle  of  Zion  by  George  Hodges, 
with  illustrations.  The  Copley  Prints  of  The  Holy 
Grail,  by  Abbey,  will  suggest  costumes  for  the  court  of 
Arthur  and  his  Knights.  The  Arabian  Nights,  illus- 
trated by  Maxfield  Parrish,  has  imaginative  ideas  for 
Arabian  costumes. 


VI 
SCENERY  AND  HOW  TO   MAKE  IT 

Next  in  importance  to  selecting  the  cast  of  a  children's 
play  is  the  selecting  of  its  scenery.  The  day  of  ornate, 
cluttered  scenery  has  gone  by,  both  for  the  adult  and 
the  children's  theater.  Hangings  are  now  used  where 
wood  sets  and  papier-mache  effects  once  held  sway. 
Line  and  color  and  light  are  now  used  to  convey  effect. 
The  audience  is  credited  with  a  little  imagination. 
Suggestion  is  used  instead  of  actuality. 

Adequate  plays  for  children  usually  contain  ample 
directions  for  costume  setting,  and  the  wise  director 
will  follow^  them.  The  atmosphere  of  a  play  is  at  least 
half  created  by  its  scene-setting.  Avoid  the  tawdry 
and  meaningless  as  you  would  a  pestilence. 

Strive  for  simplicity  of  effect.  Dark-green  hang- 
ings with  a  brown  floor-cloth,  and  some  make-believe 
tree-trunks,  suggest  a  wood.  One  needs  no  more 
scenery  than  that  to  convey  the  heart  of  a  forest.  See 
to  it  that  when  the  curtains  part  at  the  entrance  of  a 
character  that  there  are  other  green  curtains  behind 
them,  so  as  to  keep  the  deep  forest  effect.  Another  way 
of  suggesting  a  wood  is  to  fasten  dozens  of  real  tree 
branches  to  green  or  brown  curtains.  Or  at  the 
Christmas  season,   pine  trees  may  suggest  the   forest 

96 


SCENERY  97 

primeval.  The  Educational  Dramatic  League  (New 
York)  has  instituted  high  screens  draped  with  what- 
ever colors  are  needed.  The  framework  of  the  screens 
is  not  unlike  the  wooden  "  clothes-horses  "  used  for 
drying  clothes,  only  they  are  made  of  iron  and  stand 
more  securely.  For  draping  such  screens,  whether  the 
woodwork  is  iron  or  wood,  use  felt,  canton  flannel, 
crepon,  or  paper  muslin,  according  to  the  scene  you 
wish  to  convey.  Crape  paper  may  also  be  used,  but  it 
is  rather  perishable. 

Dark  forest-green  hangings  are  absolutely  invaluable. 
If  only  one  set  of  hangings  can  be  afforded,  have  them 
of  this  color.  And  denim  is  a  good  serviceable  ma- 
terial. They  can  be  a  wood  in  one  scene,  and  with  a 
flat  brown  border  basted  to  the  other  side  they  can 
suggest  a  Puritan  interior.  With  a  rose-flower  cre- 
tonne border  basted  to  them  they  can  become  a  Colonial 
room.  With  a  pale-blue  border,  they  are  a  palace. 
With  a  white  Grecian  border,  they  represent  a  room 
in  a  Grecian  home.  To  have  them  suggest  the  interior 
of  a  peasant  home  is,  naturally,  the  most  difficult  of  all, 
because  the  scene  of  a  rude  interior  with  a  hearth  is 
usually  meant  to  be  convej^ed.  For  this  sort  of  a  scene 
have  the  furniture  low,  a  low  bench  or  two,  and  a  some- 
what squat  table.  Have  as  little  furniture  as  pos- 
sible. You  wish  merely  to  suggest  the  scene.  Have 
a  tallow  dip  for  a  light,  and  for  a  hearth — not  a  hearth 
at  all!  Have  a  brazier  with  charcoal  burning,  as  is 
often  customary  in  some  of  the  European  peasant 
homes.     This  can  be  made  by  painting  a  tripod  wash- 


98  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

stand  black,  and  setting  a  candle  deep  In  it,  or  burn- 
ing a  little  red  powder  to  give  a  glow.  One  has  al- 
w^ays  to  be  careful  of  fire;  but  to  burn  a  candle  or 
powder  in  a  bowl  is  generally  safe.  Stand  the  tripod 
where  it  is  least  likely  to  be  upset.  The  characters 
who  enter  can  warm  their  hands  at  it  as  at  a  hearth. 
Of  course,  if  it  can  be  had,  a  red  electric  bulb  set  in  the 
bowl,  or  a  red  spot-light  turned  on  it  is  the  best  of  all. 

Never  mix  painted  and  curtain  scenery.  This  is 
never  done  by  the  artists  of  the  stage.  Take  the  Win- 
throp  Ames  production  of  Snow  White  for  a  model. 
There,  scenes  with  their  background  of  curtains  al- 
ternated with  painted  scenes.  The  two  were  never 
used  together.  Rhinehardt,  a  man  who  has  made  the 
Gordon  Craig  ideas  the  basis  of  his  stage  art,  procures 
wonderful  effects  by  the  use  of  draped  interiors.  He 
never  mixes  painted  and  draped  scenery.  These  men 
are,  of  course,  artists  of  the  adult  stage;  but  what 
they  do  can  be  followed  in  a  small  way  for  the  chil- 
dren's stage.  Some  suggestions  follow.  They  are  de- 
signs which  can  be  followed  at  the  least  possible  ex- 
pense. 

For  a  Palace. — Hangings  of  pale  blue,  or  deep 
vivid  blue.  A  throne  chair  of  white  and  gold,  set  on 
a  raised  dais,  covered  with  blue.  But  suppose  a  throne 
chair  cannot  be  had?  Then  a  box  dais,  and  on  it  set 
firmly  an  armchair.  Drape  or  cover  this  with  pale-blue 
cambric,  glazed  side  outward,  to  represent  satin. 
Place  over  the  back  of  it  cloth  of  gold  that  is  made 
by  gilding  burlap  with  radiator  bronze;  or  a  spangled 


SCENERY  99 

scarf  placed  straight  across  the  back  will  make  a  fine 
glitter. 

A  Garden. — The  same  method  of  arrangement  as 
for  a  wood  or  forest,  with  vines  of  paper  flowers  that 
can  be  bought  very  cheaply  by  the  yard  from  the 
Dennison  Tissue  Paper  Co.  These  vines  are  fastened 
to  the  curtains  as  if  on  a  trellis.  A  little  confetti  laid 
beneath  them  gives  the  effect  of  fallen  blossoms. 

A  Dungeon. — Black  hangings,  and  black  or  pine 
furniture.    A  black  or  gray  floor-cloth. 

A  Street  Scene. — This  is  the  most  difficult  to  con- 
vey by  means  of  curtains,  but  it  can  be  done.  Remem- 
ber that  you  are  to  suggest  a  street  scene  only.  Have 
gray  unglazed  cambric  hangings,  with  the  outlines  of 
doors  and  quaintly  shaped  windows  put  on  life-size 
by  stitching  outlines  of  black  cambric  to  the  gray  cur- 
tains. It  is  better  to  stitch  them  than  to  paint  them, 
for  cloth  that  shows  up  paint  is  really  rather  expensive. 
The  effect  is  to  suggest  a  street,  and  as  this  kind  of 
scenery  belongs  to  no  particular  period  it  can  be  used 
from  the  tenth  to  the  seventeenth  century.  It  can 
also  be  used  to  suggest  modern  scenes  in  quaint  Euro- 
pean villages  such  as  little  out-of-the-way  French,  Ger- 
man, Scandinavian,  or  Russian  towns.  For  a  modern 
street  scene  it  is,  of  course,  quite  inappropriate. 

A  Peasant's  Home. — As  has  been  suggested,  a 
brazier,  benches,  and  a  table.  Brown  hangings,  and  a 
brown  floor-cloth  if  possible.     If  not,  green  will  do. 

An  Eastern  Palace. — Yellow  curtains,  with  a 
throne  covered  in  either  scarlet  or  orange. 


lOO  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

The  Drop-Curtain. — For  a  drop-curtain,  dark 
green  is  to  be  preferred  above  all  other  colors.  Next  to 
this  dark  brown.  It  must  be  of  thick  material,  denim 
or  felt.  Take  dark  blue  or  dark  red  if  you  cannot 
get  green  or  brown.  Green  is  best  because  it  can  be 
used  to  advantage  in  forest  scenes  after  it  is  worn  out 
as  a  curtain.  Or  brown  curtains  can  be  used  when 
half  worn  out  for  a  floor-cloth  for  forest  scenes. 

The  laws  of  certain  cities  prohibit  the  use  of  curtains 
in  schools,  on  account  of  the  fear  of  fire.  Other 
schools  cannot  afford  a  curtain  large  enough  for  their 
auditorium.  This  makes  things  very  awkward  for 
plays  demanding  a  change  of  scene.  Of  course  the 
lights  can  be  turned  ofi  in  some  schools,  and  the  scenery 
changed  in  semi-darkness;  but  there  are  schools  where 
even  this  advantage  cannot  be  had.  For  those  who 
find  themselves  in  a  curtain  predicament  the  following 
is  suggested.  Have  six  scenery  pages,  boys  or  girls  as 
nearly  of  one  height  as  possible.  Let  them  wear  a  dark 
color,  or  colors,  and  be  sure  their  shoes  and  stockings 
are  black.  Have  couch-covers,  portieres,  or  strips  of 
cloth  fastened  to  curtain  rods.  Let  the  pages  pass 
quickly  to  the  front  of  the  stage  as  soon  as  the  scene 
closes,  holding  these  improvised  screens  between  chang- 
ing scene  and  audience  till  the  scenery  is  moved,  thus: 


SCENERY  loi 

For  a  church  scene  have  dark-colored  hangings.  An 
ofEertory  table  with  a  long  straight  centerpiece  of  white, 
candles  at  either  end,  and  in  the  center. 

Be  careful  of  your  stage  furnishing.  It  can  do  much 
to  make  or  mar  a  play.  See  that  your  chairs  and  table 
are  of  the  period  described  in  the  text.  If  your  play  is 
Greek,  study  the  lines  of  Greek  benches  or  seats.  You 
can  have  them  made  very  inexpensively,  and  painted 
white.  Never,  under  any  circumstances,  use  modern 
furniture  in  Greek  plays. 

For  your  interior  scenes,  if  your  play  is  laid  in  early 
Saxon  times,  in  the  days  of  Robin  Hood,  or  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers,  in  fact  in  any  century  up  to  the  eighteenth, 
you  are  safe  in  using  heavy  black  mission  furniture 
with  upright  chairs  and  plain  tables.  The  mission 
furniture  may  not  fit  the  period  in  detail,  but  it  is  un- 
obtrusive, has  simple  lines  and  the  massiveness  of  the 
early  furniture.  Never  use  bright-colored  furniture 
unless  so  directed  in  the  text  of  the  play. 

Use  ornaments  very  sparingly,  unless  called  for. 
They  clutter  your  scene.  Remember  that  tablecloths, 
white  or  silken,  were  not  in  general  use  till  the 
eighteenth  century.  Even  then  they  were  used  for 
meals,  not  for  the  tables  in  drawing-rooms  or  libraries. 
These  were  polished  and  bare.  Do  not  use  "  tidies  " 
or  "  throws  "  unless  your  scene  is  laid  in  America  at 
the  time  of  the  Civil  War,  or  unless  you  wish  to  sug- 
gest an  old-fashioned  farmhouse  interior.  Do  not  use 
cushions  of  variegated  colors  unless  your  scene  is  Japa- 
nese.    Too  many  bright  and  varied  colors  distract  the 


iBSi^. 


102  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

eye.  Use  dim,  quiet  colors.  In  fact,  have  the  same 
taste  in  your  scenes  that  you  would  in  household  deco- 
ration. Choose  your  accessories  with  reference  to  the 
color  of  your  background.  Try  to  work  out  your 
scene-setting  in  one  or  two  quiet  colors.  It  is  the  actors, 
not  the  scene,  that  you  wish  to  bring  before  the  eye  of 
the  audience. 

Have  as  little  furniture  on  the  stage  as  possible. 
Use  a  floor-cloth,  or  if  this  is  not  obtainable,  a  bare 
floor,  with  or  without  a  fur  rug.  Do  not  put  a  leopard 
skin  in  the  home  of  a  Danish  peasant,  as  one  amateur 
producer  did.  Beware  how  you  use  Persian  rugs. 
Few  amateur  plays  are  laid  in  Persia.  Above  all,  be- 
ware of  brightly-colored  strips  of  carpet,  unless  you 
wish  your  scene  to  be  comic  or  grotesque. 

An  eighteenth-century  interior  may  be  light  in  color. 
Have  spindle-legged  furniture,  cretonne  hangings,  and 
spft-colored  cushions.  With  this  century  came  in  lac- 
quered tables  and  trays. 

Never,  unless  your  scene-setting  actually  requires  it, 
set  a  scene  in  a  pink  or  red  room.  It  will  kill  the  color 
of  most  of  your  costumes.  "  Ah!  "  cries  some  unfortu- 
nate producer,  "  what  if  you  are  in  a  little  town  where 
the  only  interior  scene  is  red  ?  What  are  you  going  to 
do?"  In  this  case  use  black  or  dark  furniture,  and 
try  to  offset  it.  If  you  are  in  a  place  where  you  must 
choose  between  a  red  dining-room  set,  or  a  "  parlor  " 
set  ornate  with  gold  and  bright  wall-paper,  when  what 
you  need  is  the  interior  of  a  peasant's  home,  turn  your 
scenery  inside  out.     The  white  back  and  the  wooden 


SCENERY  103 

props  will  look  like  a  crude,  whitewashed  home.  If 
the  back  is  only  a  little  yellowish,  or  dirty,  you  are 
saved.  If  you  are  allowed  to  tack  brown  wall-paper 
(plain)  to  the  back  of  the  set,  you  can  make  an  ex- 
cellent peasant  hut  out  of  it,  or  an  interior  that  will 
do  for  a  Puritan  living-room,  or  eighteenth-century 
kitchen. 

See  that  the  color  of  your  hangings  or  scenery  are 
the  same  in  gaslight  and  in  daylight.  Artificial  light 
has  a  way  of  making  green  look  blue  and  blue  look 
green.  Be  especially  careful  to  see  that  the  dark  green 
of  your  forest  scene  is  not  black  at  night.  "  Look  be- 
fore you  leap,"  might  be  transposed  to  "  Look  before 
you  buy."  Take  care  of  your  scenery  and  details,  and 
much  of  your  play  will  take  care  of  itself. 

For  scenery  study  the  pictures  in  Guizot's  France,  and 
the  Jeanne  D'Arc  pictures  by  Boutet  de  Monvel;  also 
the  interiors  shown  in  illustrated  editions  of  Pilgrim's 
Progress.  For  the  interior  of  foreign  peasant  homes, 
and  scraps  of  scenery,  try  Little  Pilgrimages  Amongst 
English  Inns,  by  Josephine  Tozier;  Little  Pilgrimages 
Amongst  French  Inns,  by  Charles  Gibson.  Some  of 
the  backgrounds  in  the  illustrated  editions  of  Lang's 
Fairy-tales.  Also  Little  Pilgrimages  Amongst  Bavarian 
Inns,  by  Frank  R.  Fraprie. 


VII 


PROPERTIES  AND  HOW  TO  MAKE 
THEM 

Use  care  in  the  selection  of  your  properties.  Study 
your  text.  Avoid  anachronisms.  Do  not  use  muskets 
and  pipes  in  a  scene  that  is  laid  before  muskets  were 
invented  and  tobacco  discovered.  Do  not  use  modern 
lamps  to  light  a  medieval  scene.  Do  not  use  modern 
musical  instruments  in  a  scene  that  is  laid  in  Grecian 
or  medieval  times.  These  are  some  of  the  average  mis- 
takes. Remember  that  penholders  and  pens  are  a 
modern  invention.  Use  quill  pens  and  sand  for  plays 
whose  scenes  are  laid  before  the  early  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. Do  not  use  clocks  in  Greek  or  early  Saxon 
scenes.  If  your  characters  are  writing  or  sending  let- 
ters in  the  times  when  parchment  was  used,  have  the 
paper  yellowed  to  look  like  parchment.  Do  not  have 
a  modern  fireplace  in  a  peasant's  home  where  the 
hearth  would  naturally  be  built  of  stone.  Do  not  use 
modern  dishes  in  medieval  scenes.  Buy  paper  plates 
and  cover  them  with  colored  tissue  paper,  or  paint 
them  till  they  resemble  the  kind  of  platters  you  need. 
Brown  will  represent  earthenware.  Gold  and  silver 
for  fairy  palaces  can  be  made  by  gilding  them  or  cover- 
104 


PROPERTIES  105 

ing  them  with  gold  paper.  Remember  that  forks  and 
spoons  were  not  in  popular  use  in  the  days  of  Robin 
Hood.  Fingers  and  knives  did  the  required  work. 
The  hearth  was  used  for  cooking.  Beware  of  modern- 
looking  cooking  utensils  in  fairy,  Puritan,  or  Colonial 
scenes.  "  Gadzooks  "  and  modern  coffee-pots  do  not  go 
together.  Beware  of  modern  frying-pans  for  hearth- 
stone scenes.  Use  iron  skillets  instead.  A  kettle  for  these 
scenes  is  always  permissible ;  but  if  it  is  a  peasant  scene, 
see  that  it  is  not  the  too-shining  brass  of  the  tea-kettle 
of  the  afternoon  tea-table!  Remember  that  coal  fires 
are  modern.  If  you  are  having  a  fairy-peasant  scene 
use  wood  instead.  Use  braziers  where  the  scenes  re- 
quire it.  They  are  always  effective,  and  can  be  made 
by  blacking  a  tripod  washbowl,  and  lighting  a  little 
red-fire  powder  in  it,  or  some  joss-sticks  which  will 
give  a  thin  blue  smoke.  Or  a  red  electric  bulb  can  be 
used  in  it,  if  there  is  no  spot-light. 

Be  careful  of  your  lighting.  The  Greeks  had  torches 
when  they  wanted  a  bright  light,  and  small,  bowl- 
shaped  lamps  with  a  wick  and  oil  for  smaller  illumina- 
tions. Gold  cardboard  torches  from  which  stream 
slashed  strips  of  flame-colored  tissue  paper  is  a  safe 
substitute.  The  Saxons  and  earty  English  had  rush- 
lights and  bowl-lamps.  A  bowl  that  looks  like  earthen- 
ware, with  the  stub  of  a  candle  in  it,  will  do.  In 
medieval  times  swinging  lamps  and  candles  were  for 
the  rich ;  while  the  humble  were  content  with  tallow 
dips  only. 

Don't  use  the  spinning-wheel  before  the  spinning- 


io6  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

wheel  was  invented,  just  because  it  is  decorative. 
Don't  use  a  modern  glass  "  tumbler "  for  your 
doublet-and-hose  hero  to  drink  from.  A  cheap  glass 
goblet  covered  with  gold  paper  will  look  like  a  gold 
goblet. 

If  possible  have  your  youthful  players  make  their 
own  properties.  Take,  for  instance,  a  fallen  tree- 
trunk,  or  a  log  for  a  forest  scene.  It  can  be  made 
by  fastening  together  two  small  vinegar  barrels,  and 
covering  them  with  green  and  brown  burlap  to  repre- 
sent bark  and  moss.  Or  it  can  be  covered  with  brown 
burlap  and  gray  lichen — real  lichen  fastened  to  it  with 
strong  glue.  Such  a  stage  property  as  this  can  be  used 
again  and  again.  And  the  boy  who  went  to  the  fields 
or  the  outlying  suburb  to  get  the  moss — may  he  not 
gain  something  of  nature's  secrets  that  he  had  not 
known  before?  And  may  not  the  eager  quest  bring 
him  hours  of  entire  happiness?  A  seventeenth-century 
broom  can  be  made  by  tying  an  armful  of  hazel  or 
willow  switches  to  an  old  broom-handle.  The  browner 
and  sturdier  these  twigs  are  the  better.  This  broom 
material  can  be  gathered  at  the  same  time  as  the  moss. 

Stimulate  initiative  and  invention  wherever  possible. 
A  round  brown  collar-box  is  only  a  collar-box  till 
you  use  it  for  an  earthen  bowl.  A  white  cardboard 
shoe-box  is  cut  down  a  little,  covered  with  black  tissue 
paper,  has  a  little  yellow  pane  inserted  in  each  side, 
and  a  curtain  ring  for  a  handle.  Behold  a  lantern  for 
a  Yankee  Minute  Man,  or  Paul  Revere,  or  anyone  else 
who  wants  to  use  it! 


PROPERTIES  107 

Remarkable  stage  furniture  can  be  made  from  wooden 
boxes  of  all  sizes.  A  packing-case  makes  a  dais.  Sev- 
eral boxes  nailed  together  and  stained  brown  will  make 
a  peasant's  cupboard. 

Three  boxes  nailed  together  like  this  n  will  make 
a  hearth.  If  it  is  to  be  a  medieval  or  fairy-tale  hearth, 
cover  it  with  cheap  gray  cambric,  bulked  to  look  like 
stone,  and  marked  like  stone  with  splotches  of  white 
and  brown  chalk.  Be  sure  you  turn  the  unglazed 
side  of  the  cambric  outward.  Use  chalk  because  paint 
does  not  show  up  well  on  cambric.  A  brick  fireplace 
for  a  modern  scene  can  be  made  in  the  same  way,  cover- 
ing the  boxes  with  brick  chimney  paper  that  can  be 
bought  at  Dennison's  Tissue  Paper  Co.,  Boston,  Chi- 
cago, or  New  York.  One  of  their  catalogues  will 
prove  invaluable  to  directors  living  in  the  country.  A 
narrow  box  on  rockers,  stained  brown,  becomes  a  Puri- 
tan or  eighteenth-century  cradle.  Gilded  and  hooded, 
it  is  the  cradle  of  a  royal  princess.  Couch-seats  can 
be  made  from  boxes,  only  be  sure  that  they  are 
secure. 

Books  which  contain  pictures  from  which  properties 
can  be  copied  are:  The  illustrated  edition  of  Guizot's 
France,  the  pictures  in  Boutet  de  Monvel's  Jeanne 
D'Arc,  some  of  the  castle  and  peasant  interiors  in  the 
Fairy  Books  edited  by  Andrew  Lang.  Also  The  Old 
Furniture  Book,  by  N.  Hudson  Moore,  and  Chats  on 
Old  Furniture,  by  Arthur  Hayden.  Also  Furniture  of 
the  Olden  Time,  by  Frances  Clay  Morse.  Home  Life 
in  Colonial  Days,  by  Alice  Morse  Earl.     Social  Life 


io8  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

Under  the  Georges,  by  Esther  Singleton.  For  styles 
in  dishes  see  By-Paths  in  Collecting,  by  Virginia  Robie. 
(This  illustrates  mostly  eighteenth-century  dishes.) 
Chats  on  English  Earthenware,  by  Arthur  Hayden. 
The  Old  China  Book,  by  N.  Hudson  Moore. 


VIII 
MUSIC   AND    DANCES 

The  music  and  dances  which  sometimes  are  used  in 
children's  plays  are  usually  indicated  in  the  text,  but 
there  are  occasions  when  dramatic  directors  or  teach- 
ers find  themselves  in  need  of  further  help.  A  good 
rule  for  dances  is  to  know  the  dates  when  they  were 
invented,  and  when  they  proved  most  popular.  Do  not 
have  your  characters  dancing  a  minuet  in  hoop-skirts, 
as  one  amateur  producer  was  known  to  do.  The  Gal- 
liard,  the  Couranto,  and  the  Levanto  came  in  with 
the  Masque  in  England,  the  Morris  Dances  even 
earlier.  The  Minuet  and  Pavane  were  of  French 
origin.  In  music  try  to  avoid  anachronisms.  If  your 
play  is  laid  in  Shakespeare's  time,  use  the  old  melodies 
"  Drink  to  Me  Only  with  Thine  Eyes,"  etc.  Do  not 
use  patriotic  airs  before  those  airs  were  written.  For 
instance,  "  The  Star-Spangled  Banner  "  should  not  be 
used  in  Colonial  scenes.  Do  not  use  Civil  War  songs 
in  Colonial  times,  as  has  been  blandly  done  by  some 
who  felt  they  had  no  time  to  look  the  others  up.  Get  a 
good  musical  dictionary  and  it  will  help  you  greatly. 
Try  to  have  your  music,  either  overture,  entr'acte,  or 
dance,  give  the  feeling  of  a  scene.    Always  begin  your 

109 


no  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

rehearsals  with  the  same  music  you  will  use  throughout. 
It  is  fatal  to  change.  If  you  are  to  rehearse  with  a 
piano  first,  and  have  an  orchestra  for  your  play,  or  a 
trio,  see  at  the  beginning  that  what  is  arranged  for 
piano  is  also  arranged  for  orchestra,  and  that  all  the 
parts  for  the  orchestra  are  on  hand.  If  they  are  sent 
for  at  the  last  minute  the  music  store  may  be  out  of 
them,  there  will  be  another  delay,  and  chaos  will  be 
the  result. 

Avoid  cheap  and  trashy  music.  It  will  pull  down 
the  whole  effect  of  your  play.  If  you  feel  you  must 
use  a  modern  march  or  waltz,  take  one  whose  title 
is  not  well  known — even  if  the  waltz  prove  a  little  less 
catchy  than  the  one  in  mind.  For  instance,  if  your 
fairies  enter  to  "  The  Merry  Widow  Waltz,"  or 
your  dwarfs  march  in  to  "  Hands  Across  the  Sea " 
you  have  called  up  an  entirely  different  effect  from  the 
one  you  wished  to  produce,  and  spoiled  your  play. 
Take  less  well-known  compositions  if  you  will  use 
that  type  of  music.  But  It  is  well  to  avoid  it  alto- 
gether, and  in  its  place  substitute  the  compositions  of 
Dvorak,  MacDowell,  Gilbert,  Nevin,  Grieg,  and 
Mendelssohn. 

For  dances,  in  giving  diagrams  and  examining  their 
technique,  the  following  books  will  be  found  valu- 
able: 

The  Dance:  Its  History.  By  Troy  and  Margaret 
Kinney. 

The  Guild  of  Play  Books.  Edited  by  Curwen,  Lon- 
don.    (Dances  and  Music.) 


MUSIC  AND  DANCES  iii 

The  Folk  Dance  Book.  By  C.  Ward  Crampton. 
(Dances   and    Music.) 

Swedish  Folk  Dances.  By  Nils  W.  Bergquist. 
(Music  and  Dances.) 

Folk  Dances  and  Singing  Games.  By  Elizabeth 
Burchenal.     (Music  and  Songs.) 

The  Gilbert  Dances,  edited  by  Susan  Hoffman  Gil- 
man,  and  published  by  Schirmer,  will  be  found  good 
for  minuets,  gavottes,  and  pavanes. 

For  simple  plays  given  in  the  lower  grades,  for  very 
little  children,  the  following  books  have  little  musical 
motifs  and  dances  that  are  easy  and  available. 

School  Dances,  by  Melvin  Ballou  Gilbert.  (With 
full  directions.)  Edited  by  Susan  Hoffman  Gilman. 
There  are  eighteen  dances  in  this  book  and  their  titles 
will  at  once  suggest  the  kind  of  play  they  should  be  used 
for.  Grade  One,  Grade  Two,  and  Grade  Three  are 
the  book's  subdivisions,  and  these  numbers  fit  the  grades 
of  the  public  school. 

Legends  of  the  Red  Men,  by  Harvey  Worthington 
Loomis,  are  good  for  Indian  dances,  and  lend  them- 
selves also  to  Indian  ceremonial  and  pantomime. 

Dramatic  Games  and  Dances,  by  Caroline  Craw- 
ford, are  good  for  younger  children  in  everyday  plays. 

For  fairy  dances  use  Dvorak's  Humoresque  and 
Nevin's  Narcissus,  and  the  Pizzicato  Polka  from  the 
Ballet  Sylvia.  The  Folk  Dances  have  already  been  in- 
dicated. In  the  Hall  of  the  Mountain  King,  by  Grieg, 
from  The  Peer  Gynt  Suite,  is  splendid  fer  gnomes,  and 


112  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

goblin  dances  or  entrances.  Edward  German's  Suite  of 
Henry  Eighth  Dances  are  good  for  medieval  plays,  and 
for  morality  plays.  Idyllo,  by  Theodore  Lack,  will  be 
found  adaptable  for  the  entrance  or  dance  music  of 
dryads  or  spirits.  MacDowell's  From  an  Indian  Lodge 
has  the  color  and  weird  beauty  for  an  Indian  scene. 
For  an  orchestra  The  Mother  Goose  Suite,  by  Ravel, 
has  four  selections,  any  one  of  which  would  make  a 
children's  overture. 


IX 


PLAYS  FOR  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

ARRANGED   ACCORDING   TO 

GRADE 

Kindergarten  and  First  Grade* 

Harper  s  Book  of  Little  Plays  will  be  found  useful 
because  they  are  exceedingly  simple  and  short  and  can 
be  given  without  special  costumes.  They  are  good  as 
exercises  for  beginners. 

The  Pageant  of  Trees,  by  William  Morris.  To 
be  found  in  any  complete  collection  of  his  poems. 
All  the  scholars  can  take  part  in  this,  several  of  the 
trees  being  spokesmen.  The  cast  can  run  from  ten  to 
tu'enty.  No  special  costumes  required.  If  possible, 
all  the  children  should  carry  tree  branches.  This  is  a 
good  interlude  for  the  spring  or  Arbor  Day.  As  it  only 
plays  five  minutes  it  should  be  used  with  a  longer  play. 

When  Mother  Lets  Us  Jet.  (Published  by 
Moffat,  Yard  and  Co.,  New  York.)  This  is  a  book 
that  contains  many  suggestions  and  ideas  that  could 
readily  be  prepared  by  teachers. 

*  Climax  not  such  an  essential  here  as  in  plays  for  older 
children. 

"3 


114  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

Second  Grade  * 

Baby  New  Year,  An  Episode.  From  Brownikins 
and  Other  Plays.  ( Published  by  Frederick  A.  Stokes 
Co.,  New  York.)  See  Chapter  XI,  Plays  for  Special 
Holidays. 

The  Grasshopper  and  the  Ants,  from  The 
Dramatic  Festival.  (Published  by  G.  P.  Putnam's 
Sons,  New  York.)  There  are  twelve  or  more  char- 
acters. It  can  be  given  by  a  cast  of  all  girls,  all  boys, 
or  boys  and  girls.  No  scenery  or  special  costumes  re- 
quired, but  can  be  used  if  wished.  Plays  half  an 
hour.  Is  good  for  schoolroom  use.  Can  also  be  given 
outdoors.     Is  very  serviceable  for  country  schools. 

The  Moon's  Silver  Cloak,  from  Children's 
Classics  in  Dramatic  Form.  (Published  by  Houghton 
Mifflin  Co.,  Boston.)  Half  a  dozen  characters.  Lasts 
eight  to  ten  minutes.  Can  be  given  without  special 
costumes  or  scenery  by  a  cast  of  boys  and  girls.  Also 
in  the  same  volume  The  Honest  Woodman,  founded 
on  iEsop's  Mercury  and  the  Woodman. 

Third  Grade 

Bearskin,  a  fairy  play,  from  Little  Plays  for  Little 
People.  (Published  by  Hodder  and  Stoughton,  New 
York.)     A  one-act  play  with  five  characters,  boys  and 

*  Climax  not  such  an  essential  here  as  in  plays  for  older 
children. 


FOR  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  115 

girls.     Interior  scene.     Requires  simple  costumes  to  be 
effective.     Plays  fifteen  minutes. 

The  Enchanted  Garden,  from  The  House  of 
the  Heart.  (Published  by  Henry  Holt  and  Co.,  New 
York.)  An  outdoor  play  which  can  readily  be  given 
indoors.     See  Chapter  XII,  Outdoor  Plays. 

The  Farmer  and  His  Sons,  a  fable  play  from 
Children's  Classics  in  Dramatic  Form.  Book  Two. 
(Houghton  Mifflin  Co.)  Half  a  dozen  characters, 
boys  and  girls.  Can  be  given  without  special  scenery 
or  costumes.     Plays  ten  minutes. 

The  Grasshopper  and  the  Ants.  See  Second 
Grade. 

The  Magic  Wood,  a  fairy  play,  in  Little  Plays 
for  Little  People.  (Hodder  and  Stoughton.)  Six 
characters,  boys  and  girls.  Plays  twenty  minutes.  In- 
terior scene,  but  difficult  setting.  Costumes  rather 
elaborate.     Might  be  given  in  the  Ben  Greet  manner. 

Fourth  Grade 
Bearskin.    See  Third  Grade. 

How  the  Indians  Planted  Powder,  from  Plays 
of  Colonial  Days.  (Published  by  Longmans,  Green, 
and  Co.,  New  York.)  An  outdoor  play  that  can  be 
given  indoors.     See  Plays  for  Boys,  Chapter  XIV. 


ii6  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

King  Alfred  and  the  Cakes,  from  Little  Plays, 
by  Lena  Dalkeith,  in  Children's  Hour  Series.  Has 
four  characters,  boys  and  girls.  It  plays  about  half  an 
hour,  and  while  possible  for  the  Fourth  Grade,  will 
require  study.  Saxon  costumes,  easily  fashioned.  In- 
terior scene. 

On  Christmas  Eve,  from  The  House  of  the 
Heart.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  Now  in  use  in  the 
schools.  Very  easy  to  give.  See  Chapter  XI,  Plays 
for  Special  Holidays. 

Princess  Tenderheart,  from  Little  Plays  for 
Little  People.  (Hodder  and  Stoughton.)  Interior 
scene.  Two  acts.  Seven  characters,  boys  and  girls. 
Plays  thirty-five  minutes.  Not  so  difficult  as  pictures 
of  costumes  would  lead  one  to  suppose. 

The  Enchanted  Garden.  See  Chapter  XII, 
Outdoor  Plays. 

The  Gooseherd  and  the  Goblin,  from  The 
House  of  the  Heart.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  Out- 
door play  that  can  be  given  indoors  very  easily.  See 
Chapter  XII,  Outdoor  Plays. 

The  Princess  and  the  Pixies,  from  The  House 
of  the  Heart.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  One-act  fairy 
play  now  in  use  in  the  schools.  Cast  of  boys  and 
girls,  ten  in  all.  Interior  scene.  Very  easy  to  give. 
Plays  eighteen  to  twenty  minutes. 


FOR  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  117 

The  Song  in  the  Heart,  from  Little  Classics  in 
Dramatic  Form,  Book  Three.  (Houghton  Mifflin 
Co.)  This  is  a  little  play  based  on  Grimm's  fairy  tale 
of  The  Three  Spinners.  Cast  of  boys  and  girls,  and 
can  be  given  without  special  scenery  or  costumes  if  so 
desired. 

Fifth  Grade 

A  Little  Pilgrim's  Progress,  from  The  House  of 
the  Heart.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  Twelve  char- 
acters, boys  and  girls.  Interior  scene,  Puritan  cos- 
tumes. In  use  in  the  schools.  Can  be  given  as  a 
Thanksgiving  play. 

Little  Men.  Dramatized  by  Elizabeth  Lincoln 
Gould  from  Louisa  Alcott's  story.  Two  acts.  In- 
terior. Modern  setting.  Everyday  clothes.  Very 
easy  to  give.  Ten  characters,  six  boys  and  four  girls. 
Plays  about  forty  minutes. 

Little  Women.  Dramatized  by  Elizabeth  Lincoln 
Gould  from  Miss  Alcott's  story.  Delightful  play  for 
six  boys  and  four  girls.  Two  acts.  Modern  setting. 
Plays  about  forty-five  minutes.  Modern  costumes,  or 
costumes  of  Civil  War  time. 

NiMBLEwiT  AND  Fingerkin,  from  The  House  of 
the  Heart.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  A  fairy  play 
in  one  act.  Nine  characters,  boys  and  girls.  Can 
be  increased  to  fourteen  characters,  if  desired.     Can 


ii8  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

be  given  by  a  cast  of  girls.  Easy  scene-settings  and 
costumes.  Widely  used  in  schools  and  settlements. 
Plays  twenty-five  minutes,  or  a  little  less. 

On  Christmas  Eve,  from  The  House  of  the  Heart. 
(Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  See  Chapter  XI,  Plays  for 
Special  Holidays. 

The  Pageant  of  Hours,  from  The  House  of  the 
Heart.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  See  Chapter  XII, 
Outdoor   Plays. 

Persephone^  from  Children's  Classics  in  Dramatic 
Form,  Book  Four.  (Houghton  Mifflin  Co.)  See 
Chapter  XII,  Outdoor  Plays. 

Princess  Tenderheart.    See  Fourth  Grade. 

The  Fairy  Changeling.  (Published  by  Richard 
Badger,  Boston.)  See  Chapter  X,  Plays,  Pageants,  and 
Operettas  for  whole  schools. 

The  Three  Wishes,  from  The  Silver  Thread. 
(Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  Interior  scene.  Two  boys 
and  one  girl.  Plays  fifteen  to  eighteen  minutes.  First 
produced  by  the  University  Settlement,  New  York 
City. 

Sixth  Grade 

Abraham  Lincoln,  Railsplitter,  from  Patriotic 
Plays  and  Pageants.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  See 
Chapter  XI,  Plays  for  Special  Holidays. 


FOR  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS         119 

A  Brewing  of  Brains,  from  The  Silver  Thread. 
(Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  A  one-act  folk  play.  Can 
be  acted  by  boys  and  girls,  or  all  girls.  Three  char- 
acters. Interior  scene.  Easy  to  give.  Plays  fifteen  to 
eighteen  minutes.  First  produced  by  People's  Institute, 
New  York. 

King  Cophetua,  from  Little  Plays  for  Little  Peo- 
ple. (Hodder  and  Stoughton.)  Twelve  or  more  char- 
acters, boys  and  girls.  Interior  scene.  Two  acts. 
Plays  half  an  hour. 

Persephone.    See  Chapter  XII,  Outdoor  Plays. 

Robin  Hood,  by  Lena  Dalkeith,  from  Children  s 
Hour  Series.  Scenes  from  Robin  Hood.  See  Chapter 
XII,  Outdoor  Plays. 

The  Christmas  Guest,  from  The  House  of  the 
Heart.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  See  Chapter  XI, 
Plays  for  Special  Holidays. 

The  Forest  Spring,  from  The  Silver  Thread. 
(Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  See  Chapter  XII,  Outdoor 
Plays. 

The  Three  Wishes.    See  Fifth  Grade. 

Seventh  Grade 

Benjamin  Franklin,  Journeyman,  from  Par 
triotic  Plays  and  Pageants.      (Henry  Holt  and  Co.) 


120  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

A  one-act  play.     Interior  scene.     Three  boys.     Two 
girls.    Simple  Colonial  costumes.     Plays  half  an  hour. 

Daniel  Boone.    See  Chapter  XIV,  Plays  for  Boys. 

George  Washington's  Fortune.  See  Chapter 
XIV,  Plays  for  Boys. 

Hiding  the  Regicides,  from  Little  Plays  from 
American  History.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  Nineteen 
characters,  boys  and  girls.  Seven  scenes.  Six  indoor 
and  one  outdoor.  Suited  to  school  auditoriums.  Has 
been  played  in  private  schools.  Plays  about  an  hour 
and  ten  minutes,  including  short  v^^aits  to  change  scenes. 

Little  Bridget,  a  fairy  play,  from  Six  Fairy 
Plays  for  Children.  (John  Lane  Co.)  Charming 
play  founded  on  William  Allingham's  poem.  Indoor 
setting.  Ten  characters,  boys  and  girls,  or  all  girls. 
One  hour  in  length. 

Robin  Hood.    See  Sixth  Grade. 

The  Boston  Tea  Party.  See  Chapter  XIV, 
Plays  for  Boys. 

The  Mistake  at  the  Manor,  from  Short  Plays 
About  Famous  Authors.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  Six 
characters,  boys  and  girls.  Could  be  given  by  a  cast 
of  all  boys.  Interior  scene.  Simple  eighteenth  century 
costumes.  Plays  about  forty  minutes.  Has  been  pro- 
duced by  the  Clinton  High  School,  New  York. 


FOR  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS         121 

The  House  of  the  Heart,  from  the  volume  of 
that  name.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  A  morality  play. 
Twelve  characters,  boys  and  girls,  or  all  girls. 
Draped  interior.  Simple  quaint  costumes.  First  pro- 
duced at  Educational  Theater,  New  York  City.  Then 
at  Fine  Arts  Theater,  Chicago,  111.  Prize  play  of  the 
Educational  Dramatic  League,  New  York  City,  etc., 
etc.     Plays  an  hour. 

The  Snow  Queen,  by  Leonora  Loveman.  Fairy 
play  in  four  acts.  Boys  and  girls.  Ten  characters. 
Plays  two  hours.  Fairy  and  peasant  costumes. 
(Royalty  to  be  paid  for  each  performance.) 

The  Wonderful  Rose,  from  Six  Fairy  Plays  for 
Children.  (John  Lane  Co.)  Four  characters,  boys 
and  girls.  Plays  over  half  an  hour.  Interior  scene. 
Good  characterization. 

Eighth  Grade 

Allison's  Lad,  from  the  volume  of  that  name. 
(Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  See  Chapter  XIV,  Plays  for 
Boys. 

A  Brewing  of  Brains.    See  Sixth  Grade. 

A  Pot  of  Broth.  Celtic  folk  play  in  one  act,  by 
William  Butler  Yeats.  Three  characters,  two  boys 
and  one  girl.  Interior  scene.  Whimsical  and  poetic. 
Plays  twenty-five  minutes. 


122  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

A  Christmas  Eve  with  Charles  Dickens.    See 

Chapter  XI,  Special  Holiday  Plays. 

A  Christmas  Party,  from  Festival  Plays.  See 
Chapter  XI,  Special  Holiday  Plays. 

Benjamin  Franklin,  Journeyman.  See  Seventh 
Grade. 

FoRTUNATUS  AND  Cassandra,  from  Little  Plays 
for  Little  People.  A  classical  play  in  three  acts,  re- 
quiring Greek  costumes.  Twelve  or  more  characters, 
boys  and  girls.  Plays  three-quarters  of  an  hour.  Bet- 
ter for  school  auditorium  than  for  schoolroom. 

Hiding  the  Regicides.    See  Seventh  Grade. 

Miss  Burney  at  Court,  from  Short  Plays  About 
Famous  Authors.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  A  one- 
act  play  suitable  for  the  eighth  grade  and  high  school. 
Six  characters,  boys  and  girls.  Eighteenth-century 
costumes.  Interior  scene.  Can  be  given  in  school- 
room.    Plays  half  an  hour. 

Mrs.  Murray's  Dinner  Party,  from  Little 
Plays  from  American  History.  (Henry-  Holt  and 
Co.)  Three-act  play  with  one  interior  scene  through- 
out. Easily  managed.  Fifteen  characters,  boys  and 
girls.  Colonial  costumes.  Plays  about  an  hour  and 
ten  minutes. 


FOR  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS         123 

Priscilla,  Myles,  and  John^  from  Holiday 
Plays.  (Duffield  and  Co.)  Tells  in  dramatic  form  of 
the  courting  of  Myles  Standish.  Interior  scene.  Four 
characters,  two  boys  and  two  girls.  Pilgrim  costumes. 
Easy  to  give.  Plays  three-quarters  of  an  hour.  Widely 
used. 

Scenes  form  the  Life  of  Lincoln,  from  Little 
Plays  from  American  History.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.) 
See  Chapter  XI,  Special  Holiday  Plays. 

The  Boston  Tea  Party,  from  Patriotic  Plays  and 
Pageants.     See  Chapter  XIV,  Plays  for  Boys. 

The  Foam  Maiden,  from  The  Silver  Thread  and 
Other  Plays.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  One-act  play. 
Simple  interior  scene.  Three  characters,  a  boy  and  two 
girls.    Plays  twenty  minutes.    Very  easy  to  give. 

The  Fairies'  Plea,  from  Short  Plays  About  Fa- 
mous Authors.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  See  Chapter 
XII,  Outdoor  Plays  and  Pageants. 

The  House  of  the  Heart.    See  Seventh  Grade. 

The  Hundredth  Trick.  See  Chapter  XIV, 
Plays  for  Boys. 

The  Little  King.  By  Witter  Bynner.  An  his- 
torical play  in  one  act,  dealing  with  the  son  of  Marie 


124  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

Antoinette.     Boys  and  girls.     Five  characters.     Plays 
half  an  hour.     Has  been  produced  in  settlements. 

The  Mistake  at  the  Manor.  See  Seventh 
Grade. 

The  Maid  of  Orleans  (based  on  authentic 
records),  from  Little  Classics  in  Dramatic  Form. 
(Houghton  Mifflin  Co.)  A  simple,  clear,  historical 
play  suited  to  the  school  auditorium,  and  involving 
a  thorough  study  of  the  language,  costumes,  and  cus- 
toms of  the  time.  Cast  of  twenty-five  boys  and  girls. 
Well  worth  doing.  Costumes  to  be  copied  after 
Boutet  de  Monvel's  Jeanne  D'Arc. 

The  Snare  and  the  Fowler.  See  Chapter  XIV, 
Plays  for  Boys. 

When  Heine  was  Twenty-One.  From  Short 
Plays  about  Famous  Authors.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.) 
A  one-act  play.  Interior  scene.  Eight  characters. 
Good  for  the  eighth  grade  and  high  school.  Boys  and 
girls  can  act  it  easily.  Simple  costumes.  Could  be 
given  in  schoolroom.     Plays  less  than  an  hour. 

The  Pageant  of  Months,  by  Christina  Rossetti, 
can  be  found  in  any  complete  collection  of  her  poems. 
It  has  fourteen  characters,  boys  and  girls.  Requires 
special  but  inexpensive  costumes.  One  interior  scene. 
Plays  half  an  hour.    A  complete  analysis  of  this  play 


FOR  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS         125 

is  to  be  found  in  the  present  volume.  Austin  Dobson's 
Vignettes  in  Verse  are  suited  to  school  auditoriums. 
They  can  be  given  by  a  cast  of  six  girls  alternating  for 
the  different  parts.  They  require  a  better  stage  than 
the  ordinary  schoolroom  because  they  should  have 
eighteenth-century  screens — or  cretonne  screens — for  a 
background,  and  the  costumes  should  be  as  good  an 
imitation  of  Watteau  as  possible. 


X 


PLAYS,  PAGEANTS,  AND  OPERET- 
TAS IN  WHICH  THE  WHOLE 
SCHOOL    MAY    PARTICIPATE 

Elsa  and  the  Trolls.  By  Helen  Shipton.  Elabo- 
rate indoor  scene,  suited  to  a  children's  theater,  or 
an  exceptionally  well  equipped  school  auditorium. 
Twenty-one  characters,  boys  and  girls,  ages  twelve  to 
fifteen.  Also  in  the  same  volume  The  Babes  in  the 
Wood,  four  acts,  twenty-two  characters,  boys  and 
girls.  Very  elaborate.  Suited  to  a  children's  theater 
or  well-equipped  school  auditorium. 

Snow  White.  The  Winthrop  Ames  edition  with 
music  by  Edmund  Rickert.  (Dodd,  Mead  and  Co.) 
A  fairy  play.  This  is  the  version  acted  at  the  Little 
Theater,  New  York.  The  acting  rights  are  held  by 
Mr.  Winthrop  Ames.  Permission  to  use  it  must  be 
obtained  from  him.  Address  The  Little  Theater,  New- 
York  City.  Twenty-one  or  more  characters,  a  cast  of 
boys  and  girls.  Indoor  and  outdoor  scenes.  The  ages 
of  the  players  range  from  nine  to  fifteen.  It  plays  two 
and  a  half  hours.  Absolutely  delightful. 
126 


FOR  WHOLE  SCHOOLS  127 

The  Fairy  Changeling.  (Richard  G.  Badger.) 
Also  found  in  St.  Nicholas  Book  of  Plays.  A  charming 
fanciful  fairy  operetta  with  thirty-five  characters,  boys 
and  girls,  in  ages  ranging  from  nine  to  fifteen.  Gil- 
bertian  humor.  Pretty  costumes,  with  directions  for 
making  them.  Airs  and  choruses  from  Gilbert  and 
Sullivan  operas. 

The  Greatest  Gift,  a  Mid-Year  of  Spring 
Festival.  From  The  Dramatic  Festival.  (G.  P. 
Putnam's  Sons.)  A  charming  festival  or  lyric  play. 
Has  one  scene  throughout,  a  forest  glade.  Cast  of 
twenty-five  or  more  boys  and  girls,  or  all  girls.  Ages 
six  to  fifteen.  It  could  be  given  out  of  doors,  but  it 
is  essentially  an  indoor  play.  The  forest  setting  re- 
quires darkness  and  light  to  give  the  right  effects. 
For  an  adequate  production  of  this  festival  technical 
staging  and  lighting  are  required.  Has  dances  and 
choruses  and  detailed  descriptions  of  costumes.  Ex- 
cellent for  a  children's  theater,  and  also  fills  the  needs 
of  girls'  schools. 

The  Magic  Chest.  (E.  P.  Button  and  Co.)  In- 
terior scene.  Twenty-four  characters,  boys  and  girls, 
or  all  girls.  Ages  eight  to  fifteen.  Plays  about  an  hour 
and  a  half. 

The  Pageant  of  Patriots,  from  Patriotic  Plays 
and  Pageants.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  An  indoor 
pageant  composed  of  episodes  that  can  be  used  as  sepa- 
rate plays.  Nine  scenes  and  a  Prologue.  The  scenes 
are  very  simple.     Some  of  them  can  be  omitted  or  in- 


128  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

eluded  as  desired  and  still  leave  the  pageant  coherent. 
From  fifty  to  two  hundred  children  can  take  part  in  it, 
ages  six  to  eighteen.  Boys  and  girls.  Full  descrip- 
tion of  music,  costumes,  and  scene-setting  is  given. 
Good  for  whole  schools  and  already  used  in  them. 
Characters  represented  are  Lincoln,  Franklin,  Wash- 
ington, Captain  John  Smith,  the  Spirit  of  Patriotism, 
etc.,  etc. 

The  Pied  Piper.  Dramatized  from  Browning's 
story,  and  published  by  E.  P.  Dutton  and  Co.  May  be 
played  indoors  or  out  of  doors.  Cast  of  twenty-five 
or  more  characters,  boys  and  girls,  or  all  girls.  Ages 
eight  to  fifteen.  Music  given  and  suggested.  Sug- 
gestions for  simple  and  effective  costumes.  Plays  an 
hour  and  a  half. 

The  Hawthorne  Pageant.  A  simple  pageant 
that  can  be  given  indoors,  if  so  desired.  See  Chapter 
XII,  Outdoor  Plays. 

The  Silver  Thread.  From  the  volume  of  that 
name  published  by  Henry  Holt  and  Co.  A  Cornish 
folk  play.  Cast  of  thirty  or  more  characters,  boys  and 
girls.  Age  of  players  ranges  from  nine  to  fifteen.  In- 
terior scenes.  Three  acts.  Plays  two  hours.  Full 
descriptions  of  costumes  and  scene-settings.  Has  been 
given  in  The  Children's  Theater,  Cincinnati,  and  in 
settlements  and  public  schools  throughout  the  country. 
Used  in  the  schools  of  Ohio  for  group  reading.  Has 
been  produced  in  high  schools,  and  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Drama  League. 


XI 
SPECIAL    HOLIDAY    PLAYS 

For  Christmas,  New  Years,  Thanksgiving,  fVashing- 
ton's  Birthday,  Lincoln's  Birthday,  Patriots'  Day, 
and  Fourth  of  July. 

Christmas 

A  Christmas  Carol.  Founded  on  Dickens'  story. 
From  Children's  Classics  in  Dramatic  Form.  A  play 
suitable  for  older  boys  and  girls,  advanced  clubs  in 
settlements,  and  for  the  eighth  grade  in  the  public 
schools.  Boys  and  girls.  A  few  younger  children  to 
play  the  parts  of  the  little  Cratchets.  Good  for  a 
community    in   the   country. 

A  Christmas  Eve  with  Charles  Dickens,  from 
Short  Plays  about  Great  Authors.  (Henry  Holt  and 
Co.)  A  one-act  play  which  includes  a  "  dream  "  Christ- 
mas Masque.  There  are  three  boys  and  two  girls  in 
the  play,  and  twenty-two  boys  and  six  girls  in  the 
Masque,  for  which  a  "  dream  gauze  "  curtain  is  re- 
quired. Requires  a  school  auditorium  for  adequate 
production,  and  elaborate  costumes.    Delightful  play. 

A  Christmas  Party,  from  Festival  Plays.     (Duf- 
field  and  Co.)      Interior  scene.     Thirteen  characters, 
129 


I30  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

boys  and  girls.  The  play  is  in  one  act  and  plays  about 
an  hour.  Ages  of  players  range  from  ten  to  fourteen 
years. 

Baby  New  Year,  An  Episode,  from  Brownikins 
and  Other  Plays.  (Frederick  A.  Stokes  Co.)  A  play 
for  very  little  children.  Appropriate  for  the  second 
grade  in  the  public  schools.  Interior  scene.  Three 
characters.    Plays  ten  minutes. 

On  Christmas  Eve,  from  The  House  of  the  Heart 
and  Other  Plays  for  Children.  (Henry  Holt  and 
Co.)  A  play  in  one  act.  Very  simple  interior  scene. 
Modern  setting.  Eleven  characters,  boys  and  girls. 
Plays  twenty  minutes. 

The  Christmas  Guest,  from  The  House  of  the 
Heart.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  A  little  miracle 
play  in  one  act.  Interior  scene.  Eight  characters,  boys 
and  girls.    Plays  twenty  minutes.    Widely  used. 

See  also  The  Guild  of  Play  Books  (Curwen's  edi- 
tion) for  old  English  Merrymakings  and  dances;  and 
Christmas  suggestions  to  be  found  in  St.  Nicholas 
Book  of  Plays  and  Operettas. 

Washington's  Birthday 

George  Washington's  Fortune,  from  Patriotic 
Plays  and  Pageants.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  An  out- 
door play  that  can  be  given  indoors  with  a  little  re- 
arrangement.    See  Chapter  XII,  Outdoor  Plays. 


FOR  SPECIAL  HOLIDAYS  131 

Lincoln's  Birthday 

Abraham  Lincoln,  Railsplitter,  from  Patriotic 
Plays  and  Pageants.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  An  his- 
torical play  giving  an  accurate  picture  of  Lincoln's  boy- 
hood. Simple  interior  scene.  Ten  characters,  boys 
and  girls.  Ages  ten  to  fourteen.  The  play  contains 
an  old-fashioned  dance,  and  the  costumes  are  very  sim- 
ple.    Pla)'s  thirty-five  minutes.     Widely  used. 

Scenes  from  Lincoln's  Life,  from  Little  Plays 
from  American  History.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.) 
These  four  scenes  can  be  given  as  a  short  pageant  play 
or  as  little  separate  one-act  pieces.  All  the  scenes  are 
interior,  but  different.  It  will  take  a  cast  of  forty  boys 
and  girls  to  give  the  whole  play.  Time:  Forty-five 
minutes.  Or  the  scenes  themselves  may  be  given  as 
one-act  pieces  lasting  ten  minutes  each.  Scene  i  has 
nine  characters.  Scene  2  has  six  characters.  Scene  3 
has  fourteen  characters.  Scene  4  has  five  characters, 
and  at  least  half  a  dozen  supers.  Has  been  produced 
in  private  schools.  Can  be  used  in  schoolroom  or  school 
auditorium.  The  third  scene  could  be  played  on  a 
veranda. 

Thanksgiving 

A  Little  Pilgrim's  Progress,  from  The  House 
of  the  Heart.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  See  Chapter 
IX,  Plays  for  the  Public  Schools,  Fifth  Grade. 

Priscilla,  Myles,  and  John,  from  Holiday  Plays. 
(Duffield  and  Co.)  See  Chapter  IX,  Plays  for  the 
Public  Schools,  Eighth  Grade. 


132  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

Pilgrim  Interlude,  from  Patriotic  Plays  and 
Pageants.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  An  outdoor  play 
that  has  been  used  indoors.  See  Chapter  XII,  Out- 
door Plays. 

Also  see  Thanksgiving  and  Harvest  festival  sug- 
gestions in  Percival  Chubb's  Plays  and  Festivals,  pub- 
lished by  Harpers.  Other  Thanksgiving  suggestions 
may  be  found  in  Folk  Festivals  and  How  to  Give 
Them  J  by  Mary  Needham.     (Huebsch.) 

Patriots'  Day 

Mrs.  Murray's  Dinner  Party,  a  three-act  play 
from  Little  Plays  from  American  History.  (Henry 
Holt  and  Co.)  Also  possible  for  Fourth  of  July  if 
given  indoors.  See  Chapter  IX,  Plays  for  the  Public 
Schools,  Eighth  Grade. 

The  Boston  Tea  Party,  from  Patriotic  Plays  and 
Pageants.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  See  Chapter  XIV, 
Plays  for  Boys. 

Fourth  of  July 

The  Hawthorne  Pageant,  from  Patriotic  Plays 
and  Pageants.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  As  Nathaniel 
Hawthorne  was  born  on  July  4,  this  pageant  may  be 
used  as  a  celebration  of  his  birthday  <f  so  desired,  by 
a  cast  of  all  girls,  or  boys  and  girls.  See  Chapter  XII, 
Outdoor  Plays. 


FOR  SPECIAL  HOLIDAYS  133 

Hiding  the  Regicides,  from  Little  Plays  from 
American  History.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  This 
play  could  be  given  in  a  town  hall  or  rustic  theater. 
See  Chapter  IX,  Plays  for  the  Public  Schools,  Seventh 
Grade. 

The  Pageant  of  Patriots,  from  Patriotic  Plays 
and  Pageants.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  A  children's 
pageant  in  which  whole  schools,  settlements,  and  com- 
munities may  participate.  See  Chapter  XII,  Outdoor 
Plays. 

Uncle  Sam's  Birthday  Party,  by  Hazel  Mackaye 
and  Mrs.  Glenna  Smith  Tinnin.  Beautiful  symbolic 
festival  suitable  for  whole  schools,  settlements,  and 
communities.  It  presents  such  well-known  figures  as 
Uncle  Sam,  Columbia,  and  the  various  States  and 
their  products.  First  produced  as  a  civic  Fourth  of 
July  Celebration  in  Washington,  D.  C,  under  the 
auspices  of  The  Drama  League.  Simple  and  effective 
costumes.  Dances  and  their  music  indicated.  Thirty- 
five  characters  at  the  least,  and  from  that  up  to  one 
hundred.  Boys  and  girls,  ages  twelve  to  fifteen  and 
over.  Splendid  for  city  as  well  as  country  use.  In 
manuscript  form.  Can  be  had  from  Miss  Hazel 
Mackaye,  Shirley  Centre,  Mass.,  upon  payment  of  a 
moderate   royalty. 

Abraham  Lincoln  Episode,  from  Patriotic  Plays 
and  Pageants.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  See  Chapter 
XII,  Outdoor  Plays. 


134  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

George  Washington's  Fortune,  from  Patriotic 
Plays  and  Pageants.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  See 
Chapter  XII,  Outdoor  Plays. 

Pocahontas,  from  Patriotic  Plays  and  Pageants. 
(Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  See  Chapter  XII,  Outdoor 
Plays. 


XII 
OUTDOOR   PLAYS  AND   PAGEANTS 

For    Camps,    Communities,   Boy   Scouts,   Camp   Fire 
Girls,  etc. 

Abraham  Lincoln  Episode,  from  Patriotic  Plays 
and  Pageants.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  A  play  for 
boys  and  girls.  Twenty-five  characters.  Simple  back- 
woods costumes,  and  Indian  costumes.  Ages  of  cast 
eight  to  fifteen.  The  episode,  including  two  old- 
fashioned  dances,  lasts  twenty-five  minutes.  Has  been 
played  a  great  deal. 

A  Son  of  the  Yemasse,  from  Little  Classics  in 
Dramatic  Form.  Book  Four.  (Houghton  Mifflin 
Co.)  It  is  based  on  William  Seymour  Gibbs'  novel. 
The  Yemasse.  Is  a  fine  play  for  boys.  Requires  Indian 
costumes.  Has  twenty-six  characters,  ages  thirteen  to 
fifteen  and  over.  It  is  very  dramatic,  and  though  its 
ending  is  tragic,  its  story  is  tense  and  interesting,  and 
it  is  a  play  that  boys  will  like.  It  plays  three-quarters 
of  an  hour. 

Benjamin    Franklin    Episode,    from    Patriotic 
Plays  and  Pageants.     (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)     A  pic- 
turesque episode  in  two  scenes.     Forty  characters  in 
135 


136  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

simple  costumes.  Boys  and  girls.  Ages  range  from 
eight  to  fourteen.  Characters  include  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin, Marie  Antoinette,  John  Adams,  etc.  It  plays 
forty  minutes,  and  contains  five  dances,  as  well  as  full 
directions  for  staging,  simple  music,  and  inexpensive 
Colonial  costumes.  Used  as  a  festival  by  settlements 
and  schools. 

Daniel  Boone:  Patriot,  from  Patriotic  Plays 
and  Pageants.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  An  historical 
play  for  boys  with  thirty  or  more  characters.  Plays 
half  an  hour.  Contains  a  war-dance.  Costumes  In- 
dian and  scout.  Characters  range  in  age  from  eight 
to  fifteen.  A  good  play  for  Boy  Scouts.  Has  already 
been  used  by  them. 

George  Washington's  Fortune,  from  Patriotic 
Plays  and  Pageants.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  A  play 
founded  on  an  incident  of  Washington's  youth.  Six 
characters,  one  girl  and  five  boys.  Ages  eight  to 
fourteen.     Plays  twenty  minutes. 

In  Witchcraft  Days,  from  The  Hawthorne 
Pageant  in  Patriotic  Plays  and  Pageants.  (Henry 
Holt  and  Co.)  Puritan  play.  Twenty  or  more  char- 
acters, boys  and  girls,  or  all  girls,  their  ages  ranging 
from  eight  to  fourteen  or  older.  Plays  half  an  hour. 
Has  been  used  in  girls'  schools  and  by  summer  camps. 

Merrymount.  An  historical  episode  from  The 
Hawthorne  Pageant  in  Patriotic  Plays  and  Pageants, 


FOR  OUT  OF  DOORS  137 

(Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  Cast  of  twenty-five  that  may 
be  increased  to  fifty.  Boys  and  girls,  or  all  girls. 
Simple,  effective  costumes.  Play  contains  a  May  Pole 
Dance  and  Revel,  Ages  of  players  range  from  eight 
to  fifteen  and  older.  Has  been  used  in  summer  camps 
and  high  schools. 

Midsummer  Night's  Dream  as  edited  by  Ben 
Greet  in  The  Children's  Shakespeare  Series  will  be 
found  to  be  wonderfully  adaptable  for  communities, 
camps,  and  summer  schools.  Can  be  given  by  a  cast 
of  twenty-five  boys  and  girls,  or  a  cast  of  all  girls,  at 
ages  ranging  from  eight  to  fifteen.  Also  good  for  in- 
doors.    The  stage  directions  are  very  complete. 

Magic  Wood,  from  Little  Plays  for  Little  People. 
(Hodder  and  Stoughton.)  A  play  that  is  really  listed 
for  indoors,  but  which  makes  a  delightful  outdoor 
play.  Six  characters,  boys  and  girls.  Ages  seven  to 
twelve.  Easy  costumes.  Plays  twenty-five  minutes. 
And  has  two  acts.  Is  a  good  play  to  give  on  a  porch 
in  a  summer  community,  with  the  audience  seated  on 
the  lawn. 

The  Fairies'  Plea,  from  Short  Plays  about  Fa- 
mous Authors.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  A  one-act 
play.  Seven  characters,  boys  and  girls.  Ten  or  more 
supers.  Fairy  costumes.  Plays  less  than  an  hour. 
Good  for  May  Day  and  Arbor  Day. 

The  Hawthorne  Pageant,  from  Patriotic  Plays 
and  Pageants,     (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)     A  pageant 


138  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

which  can  be  given  indoors  or  out  of  doors.  Chorus, 
Prologue,  Two  Episodes,  and  an  Interlude.  Four  or 
five  dances.  Simple  costumes,  with  full  directions  for 
making  them.  Puritan  and  Cavalier  dress.  Fifty- 
characters  necessary  to  give  it,  and  from  that  to  two 
hundred  can  be  used.  Boys  and  girls,  or  all  girls.  Is 
especially  suited  to  a  girls'  camp.  First  produced  at 
the  Wadleigh  High  School,  New  York  City,  as  a 
celebration  of  Arbor  Day.  Then  at  Tyringham,  Mass., 
as  a  celebration  of  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anni- 
versary of  the  founding  of  the  town.  Good  for  com- 
munity as  well  as  camp  use.    Used  in  girls'  schools. 

Persephone,  from  Children's  Classics  in  Dramatic 
Form.  Book  Four.  (Houghton  Mifflin  Co.)  Twenty 
or  more  characters.  Girls  in  ages  ranging  from  eight 
to  fourteen.  Simple  Grecian  costumes.  The  right 
play  for  girls'  camps  and  a  spring  festival.  Plays 
three-quarters  of  an  hour. 

Pilgrim  Interlude,  from  Patriotic  Plays  and 
Pageants.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  An  Interlude 
with  thirteen  characters,  boys  and  girls.  Ages  eight  to 
fourteen.  Plays  half  an  hour.  Contains  chorus  and  an 
Indian  dance.  Costumes  Pilgrim  and  Indian.  Has 
been  used  by  girls'  clubs. 

Pocahontas,  from  Patriotic  Plays  and  Pageants. 
(Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  Historical  play  with  thirty 
or  more  characters,  boys  and  girls.     Contains  Indian 


FOR  OUT  OF  DOORS  139 

dances  and  ceremonies.  Plays  half  an  hour.  Ages  of 
players  range  from  eight  to  fourteen  or  older.  In  use 
in  settlements.  Particularly  appropriate  for  a  camp. 
Also  for  use  by  Boy  Scouts  and  Camp  Fire  Girls. 

Siegfried,  from  The  Silver  Thread  and  Other  Folk 
Plays.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  An  outdoor  play  in 
one  act.  From  the  German.  Five  characters,  two 
girls  and  three  boys.  Or  can  be  given  by  a  cast  of  all 
girls.  Very  simple  costumes.  Ages  eleven  to  fourteen. 
Has  been  used  in  girls'  camps. 

The  Dream  Lady,  from  Six  Fairy  Plays  for  Chil- 
dren. (John  Lane  Co.)  A  delightfully  written  one- 
act  play  which  can  be  given  by  a  cast  of  boys  and 
girls,  but  which  is  better  for  a  cast  of  girls.  Sixteen 
characters,  in  age  from  ten  to  fourteen  or  older.  Plays 
three-quarters  of  an  hour.  Produced  at  The  Children's 
Theater  in  Cincinnati,  and  popular  in  settlements. 

The  Forest  Spring,  from  The  Silver  Thread  and 
Other  Folk  Plays.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  An 
Italian  folk  play.  Four  characters,  a  boy  and  three 
girls.  Or  can  be  given  by  four  girls.  Ages  ten  to 
fourteen.  Very  simple  costumes.  Used  where  small 
casts  are  desired.     Can  also  be  given  indoors. 

The  Elf  Child,  from  The  House  of  the  Heart  and 
Other  Plays  for  Children.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.) 
A  one-act  play  with  twelve  or  more  characters,  boys 


140  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

and  girls,  or  all  girls.  Has  been  widely  used.  Char- 
acters from  seven  to  thirteen  years  of  age.  Produced 
in  many  places  under  the  auspices  of  the  Junior  De- 
partment of  The  Drama  League. 

The  Gooseherd  and  the  Goblin,  from  The 
House  of  the  Heart.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  A  fairy 
play  with  eight  characters,  boys  and  girls.  Easy  fan- 
tastic costumes.  Ages  of  players  from  eight  to  thirteen. 
Plays  twenty  minutes.     Can  also  be  given  indoors. 

The  Enchanted  Garden,  from  The  House  of  the 
Heart.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  A  garden  play.  Fif- 
teen or  more  characters,  boys  and  girls,  or  all  girls. 
Ages  six  to  twelve.  Flower  costumes.  Plays  twenty 
minutes.     Contains  a  dance. 

The  Pageant  of  Hours,  from  The  House  of  the 
Heart.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  A  very  simple 
pageant  in  verse,  with  fourteen  characters.  Can  be 
given  by  a  cast  of  boys  and  girls,  or  all  girls.  Ages 
seven  to  twelve.  Grecian  costumes.  Plays  twenty 
minutes.  Used  in  schools,  and  produced  by  the  Junior 
Department  of  The  Drama  League. 

The  Pageant  of  Patriots,  from  Patriotic  Plays 
and  Pageants.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  A  pageant  in 
which  a  whole  community,  school,  or  settlement  may 
participate.  {See  Plays,  Pageants,  and  Operettas  for 
indoor  version  of  this  pageant.)     It  cannot  be  given 


FOR  OUT  OF  DOORS  141 

with  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  children,  unless 
only  a  few  of  the  episodes  are  used.  The  best  average 
runs  from  two  hundred  to  five  hundred  players,  boys 
and  girls.  There  are  eight  episodes  and  a  prologue, 
with  full  directions  for  costumes,  properties,  and 
dances.  This  pageant  was  first  given  in  Prospect 
Park,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  by  the  ten  Social  Settlements 
of  Brooklyn.  It  was  the  first  children's  pageant  ever 
given  in  this  country,  and  its  characters  represent  scenes 
from  the  life  of  Lincoln,  Captain  John  Smith,  Wash- 
ington, Franklin,  etc.,  etc.  It  has  been  produced  by 
schools  and  under  the  auspices  of  women's  clubs  and  by 
children's  theaters.  Was  used  as  The  Safe  and  Sane 
Fourth  Celebration  for  Boston,  Mass.  See  article  in 
Outlook  Magazine,  by  Myra  Emmons,  July  2,  191 1. 


White  Magic,  from  Six  Fairy  Plays  for  Children. 
(John  Lane  Co.)  A  play  that  can  equally  well  be 
given  indoors  or  outdoors.  One  act,  fifteen  characters, 
boys  and  girls,  or  all  girls.     Ages  ten  to  fourteen. 

Wild  Animal  Play,  by  Ernest  Thompson  Seton. 
(Doubleday,  Page  and  Co.)  Sixteen  characters,  boys 
and  girls,  ages  eight  to  fourteen.  Plays  half  an  hour. 
Has  all  the  characters  made  popular  through  Mr. 
Seton's  books  and  teaches  natural  history  at  the  same 
time  that  it  interests  its  players.  Especially  good  for 
camp.  Could  be  given  by  a  cast  of  boys,  by  making 
slight  changes.  In  this  case  it  would  be  admirable  for 
Boy  Scouts. 


.  XIII 

PLAYS    FOR    SETTLEMENTS 

Wide  and  varied  are  the  uses  of  plays  in  settlements. 
Through  them  the  members  of  the  settlement  clubs 
can  be  taught  our  language  and  respect  for  our  flag. 
Yet  too  often  do  the  young  people  come  to  think 
lightly  of,  or  despise  the  simple  art,  the  folklore,  and 
the  customs  of  their  native  land.  The  settlement  that 
produces  plays  of  these  elder  countries  (the  plays,  of 
course,  are  acted  in  English)  shows  its  young  people 
the  heritage  they  have  brought  with  them,  and  should 
never  forget.  Moreover,  it  is  a  bond  that  draws  young 
and  old  together:  for  fathers  and  mothers,  seeing  the 
native  costumes  and  perhaps  knowing  the  native  legend, 
are  able  to  grasp  much  of  what  goes  on,  and  take  an 
interest  in  it.  It  is  often  a  tragically  evident  fact  that 
the  emigrant  mother  with  no  knowledge  of  English 
finds  her  children  growing  away  from  her.  But  with 
the  production  of  an  Italian  play  for  Italians,  or  a 
Russian  play  for  the  Russians,  the  children  are  only 
too  glad  to  consult  their  "  sisters  and  their  cousins  and 
their  aunts,"  not  counting  their  mothers  and  their 
grandmothers.  They  ask  about  costumes.  How  did 
mother  wear  this  or  that  in  the  old  country?  They 
142 


FOR  SETTLEMENTS  I43 

borrow  trinkets  or  gay  handkerchiefs.  Churches  and 
guilds  in  all  our  cities  have  this  same  problem  to  deal 
with.  Therefore,  in  this  particular  compilation  stress 
is  put  on  the  folk  play.  The  strictly  patriotic  or  ethical 
play  can  be  found  under  other  headings. 

English  Folk  Plays 
A  Brewing  of  Brains.  English  folk  play.     See 
Chapter  IX,  Plays  for  the  Public  Schools,  Sixth  Grade. 

The    Silver   Thread.     See   Chapter   X,    Plays, 
Pageants,  and  Operettas  for  Whole   Schools. 

French  Folk  Plays 
The  Maid  of  Orleans.  This  is  not  a  folk  play 
pure  and  simple,  but  it  does  deal  with  French  legend, 
"  The  Fairy  Tree,"  as  well  as  French  history.  See 
Chapter  IX,  Plays  for  the  Public  Schools,  Eighth 
Grade. 

The  Three  Wishes.    See  Chapter  IX,  Plays  for 
the  Public  Schools,  Fifth  Grade. 

Siegfried.    See  Chapter  XII,  Outdoor  Plays. 

Snow  White.     See  Chapter  X,  Plays  for  Whole 
Schools. 

Irish 
A  Pot  of  Broth.    See  Chapter  IX,  Plays  for  the 
Public  Schools,  Eighth  Grade. 


144  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

The  Foam  Maiden.  See  Chapter  IX,  Plays  for 
the  Public  Schools,  Eighth  Grade. 

The  Traveling  Man.  A  mystical  religious  play 
by  Lady  Gregory.  An  interior  scene,  very  easy  to 
give.  Characters,  a  man,  a  woman,  a  little  child. 
Two  girls  of  fifteen  could  play  the  adult  parts,  a  child 
of  seven  or  eight  the  child's  part. 

The  Land  of  Heart's  Desire,  by  William  Butler 
Yeats.  A  fairy  play  with  about  fifteen  characters,  some 
representing  fairies.    Can  be  given  by  girls  of  fourteen. 

The  Twig  of  Thorn,  by  Marie  Josephine  War- 
ren. A  delightful  fairy  play  in  two  acts.  Twenty 
characters.  Simple  picturesque  costumes.  Plays  an 
hour  and  ten  minutes.     Is  good  for  a  girls'  club. 

Italian 

The  Course  of  True  Love.  A  comedy  from 
The  Dramatic  Festival.  (Putnam's.)  Italian  cos- 
tumes and  setting.  Eleven  characters,  boys  and  girls, 
or  all  girls.  Very  elaborate  scenery,  unless  the  scenery 
is  imagined.  Plays  one  hour.  Excellent  for  older 
clubs  in  settlements,  or  for  boys  and  girls  of  fifteen 
and  fourteen.  It  needs  cutting  for  the  latter  in  order 
to  make  it  run  quickly. 

The  Forest  Spring.  See  Chapter  XII,  Outdoor 
Plays. 


FOR  SETTLEMENTS  145 

Norwegian 

Troll  Magic.  An  outdoor  play  that  can  be  given 
indoors.     See  Chapter  XII,  Outdoor  Plays. 

Russian 

Minka's  Wedding.  This  is  a  good  play  for  boys 
and  girls  of  fifteen,  taken  from  The  Dramatic  Festival. 
(Putnam's.)  A  cast  of  all  girls  can  also  produce  it. 
It  has  an  interior  scene  in  two  acts,  and  distinct  Rus- 
sian atmosphere.  The  costumes,  which  are  rather 
elaborate,  are  Russian  throughout.  Some  of  the  longer 
speeches  and  songs,  notably  that  of  Ingot's  Troop,  will 
have  to  be  cut  by  the  dramatic  director. 

Peter  the  Great's  School,  from  Children's 
Classics  in  Dramatic  Form.  Book  Four.  (Houghton 
Mifflin  Co.)  This  play  can  utilize  a  dozen  to  fifteen 
boys  and  girls  of  ten  to  twelve  years  of  age.  It  has 
simple  scenes,  and  the  Russian  costumes  it  requires  can 
be  easily  fashioned.     It  plays  fifteen  minutes. 

The  Snow  Witch.  A  Russian  folk  play  from 
The  Silver  Thread  and  Other  Folk  Plays  for  Young 
People.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  This  is  a  play  in  one 
act,  with  a  simple  interior,  and  full  directions  for 
simple  inexpensive  costumes.  Twelve  characters,  boys 
and  girls,  or  it  can  be  given  by  a  cast  of  girls.  It  con- 
tains a  folk  dance,  and  plays  half  an  hour. 


XIV 
PLAYS    FOR    BOYS 

Allison's  Lad,  from  the  volume  of  plays  of  that  title. 
(Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  A  one-act  play  suitable  both 
for  eighth  grade  and  high  schools.  Simple  interior 
scene.  Seventeenth-century  costumes  and  setting.  Re- 
quires intelligent  acting.  Has  been  widely  used  by  high 
schools  and  amateur  dramatic  clubs.  Plays  half  an 
hour  or  a  little  over.  The  ages  of  the  boys  taking 
part  should  be  at  least  fifteen  to  eighteen.  Six  char- 
acters. 

Daniel  Boone:  Patriot,  from  Patriotic  Plays  and 
Pageants.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  See  Chapter  XH, 
Outdoor  Plays. 

A  Son  of  the  Yemasse,  from  Little  Classics  in 
Dramatic  Form.  Book  Four.  (Houghton  MifBin 
Co.)     See  Chapter  XH,  Outdoor  Plays. 

How  THE  Indians  Planted  Powder,  from  Plays 
of  Colonial  Days.     (Longmans,  Green,  and  Co.)     His- 
torical play.    Five  characters,  ranging  in  age  from  ten 
146 


FOR  BOYS  147 

to  thirteen  years.     Plays  fifteen  minutes.    Indian  cos- 
tumes.   Will  interest  boys. 


The  Boston  Tea  Party,  from  Patriotic  Plays 
and  Pageants.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  A  play  for 
boys  that  is  in  wide  use  in  the  public  schools,  private 
schools  such  as  Phillips  Exeter,  library  centers,  young 
people's  theaters,  and  dramatic  clubs.  It  is  historically 
accurate,  and  has  an  easy  interior  setting  and  costumes, 
with  full  directions  for  making  them.  There  are  nine 
characters,  boys  of  twelve  to  fifteen  or  over,  and  it 
plays  half  an  hour  or  forty  minutes,  according  to  the 
length  of  the  fencing  bout  which  it  contains. 

The  Hundredth  Trick,  from  Allison's  Lad  and 
Other  Martial  Interludes.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.) 
Simple  Elizabethan  interior  and  costumes.  Four  char- 
acters. Has  been  acted  by  both  amateurs  and  profes- 
sionals. Requires  the  best  powers  of  those  taking  part 
in  it.  Ages  fifteen  to  eighteen  at  least.  Plays  thirty- 
five  minutes. 

The  Snare  and  the  Fowler,  from  Allison's  Lad 
and  Other  Martial  Interludes.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.) 
A  one-act  play  in  blank  verse.  Three  characters.  Sim- 
ple interior  scene.  Or  can  be  given  with  background 
of  curtains.  Costumes  of  the  period  of  the  French 
Revolution.  Has  been  widely  used  by  amateur  dra- 
matic  clubs,   high   schools,   settlements,   and    colleges. 


148  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

The  boys  taking  part  should  be  at  least  from  fifteen  to 
eighteen  years  of  age. 

Wild  Animal  Play,  by  Ernest  Thompson  Seton, 
is  a  play  for  boys  and  girls,  but  by  rearranging  some  of 
it,  it  can  be  given  by  a  cast  of  all  boys.  See  Chapter 
XII,  Outdoor  Plays. 


XV 
PLAYS   FOR   GIRLS 

Persephone,  in  Children's  Classics  in  Dramatic 
Form.  Book  Four.  (Houghton  Mifflin  Co.)  See 
Chapter  XII,  Outdoor  Plays. 

The  Elf  Child,  from  The  House  of  the  Heart. 
(Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  See  Chapter  XII,  Outdoor 
Plays. 

The  Enchanted  Garden,  from  The  House  of 
the  Heart.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  A  garden  play. 
See  Chapter  XII,  Outdoor  Plays. 

The  Dream  Lady,  from  Six  Fairy  Plays  for  Chil- 
dren. (John  Lane  and  Co.)  A  play  that  can  be  given 
indoors  or  outdoors,  but  which  is  particularly  appropri- 
ate for  the  latter.     See  Chapter  XII,  Outdoor  Plays. 

The  Hawthorne  Pageant,  from  Patriotic  Plays 
and  Pageants.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  Can  be  given 
indoors  or  outdoors.    See  Chapter  XII,  Outdoor  Plays. 

The  House  of  the  Heart,  from  the  volume  with 
that  title.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  See  Chapter  IX, 
Plays  for  the  Public  Schools,  Seventh  Grade. 

The  Pageant  of  Hours,  from  The  House  of  the 
Heart.  (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)  See  Chapter  XII, 
Outdoor  Plays. 

149 


XVI 
PLAYS    FOR   GROUP    READINGS 

This  means  plays  that  are  read  in  the  schools,  without 
an  attempt  at  acting.  Each  student  is  responsible  for 
whatever  character  he  or  she  assumes,  and  reads  only 
that  character's  lines  throughout  the  play.  This  is 
done  as  a  study  in  English,  as  it  has  been  found  that 
children  take  a  keen  interest  in  this  form  of  drama. 

Adam's  Dream  and  Two  Other  Miracle 
Plays,  by  Alice  Corbin.  Suitable  for  third,  fourth, 
and  fifth  grades. 

Snow  White,  by  Jessie  Braham  White.  (The 
Winthrop  Ames  edition,  Dodd,  Mead  and  Co.)  Suit- 
able for  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  grades. 

The  Blue  Bird,  by  Maurice  Maeterlinck.  Suit- 
able for  fifth,  sixth,  and  seventh  grades. 

The  Pageant  of  Months,  by  Christina  Rossetti. 
Suitable  for  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  grades. 

The    Silver    Thread,    by     Constance     D'Arcy 
Mackay.     (Henry  Holt  and  Co.)     Suitable  for  fifth, 
sixth,  and  seventh  grades. 
150 


XVII 

BOOKS    THAT  WILL    BE    OF    HELP 

TO    DRAMATIC    DIRECTORS, 

TEACHERS,  SOCIAL 

WORKERS 

Educational  Dramatics,  by  Emma  Sheridan  Fry. 

Folk  Festivals  and  How  to  Give  Them,  by  Mary 
Masters  Needham. 

Plays  and  Festivals,  by  Percival  Chubb  and  Asso- 
ciates. 

The  Civic  Theater,  by  Percy  MacKaye. 

The  Dramatic  Festival,  by  Anne  Throop  Craig. 

The  Festival  Book  (May  Day  Past  Time,  and  The 
May  Pole),  by  Jeanette  Lincoln. 

The  Irish  Theater,  by  Lady  Gregory. 

The  Playhouse  and  the  Play,  by  Percy  MacKaye. 

The  Spirit  of  Youth  and  the  City  Streets,  by  Jane 
Addams. 


151 


SHORT  PLAYS  ABOUT  FAMOUS  AUTHORS 
(Goldsmith,  Dickens,  Heine,  Fannie  Burney,  Shakespeare) 
By  Maude  Morrison  Frank. 

The  Mistake  at  the  Manor  shows  the  fifteen-year-old 
Goldsmith  in  the  midst  of  the  humorous  incident  in  his  life  which 
later  formed  the  basis  of  "She  Stoops  to  Conquer." 

A  Christmas  Eve  With  Charles  Dickens  reveals  the  author 
as  a  poor  factory  boy  in  a  lodging-house,  dreaming  of  an  old- 
time  family  Christmas. 

When  Heine  was  Twenty-one  dramatizes  the  early  disobe- 
dience of  the  author  in  writing  poetry  against  his  uncle's  orders. 

Miss  Burney  at  Court  deals  with  an  interesting  incident  in 
the  life  of  the  author  of  "Evelina"  when  she  was  at  the  Court 
of  George  III. 

The  Fairies'  Plea,  which  is  an  adaptation  of  Thomas  Hood's 
poem,  shows  Shakespeare  intervening  to  save  the  fairies  from 
the  scythe  of  Time. 

Designed  in  general  for  young  people  near  enough  to  the 
college  age  to  feel  an  interest  in  the  personal  and  human  as- 
pects of  literature,  but  the  last  two  could  easily  be  handled  by 
younger  actors.  They  can  successfully  be  given  by  groups  or 
societies  of  young  people  without  the  aid  of  a  professional  coach. 

LITTLE  PLAYS  FROM  AMERICAN  HISTORY 
FOR  YOUNG  FOLKS 
By  Alice  Johnstone  Walker. 

Hiding  the  Regicides,  a  number  of  brief  and  stirring  episodes, 
concerning  the  pursuit  of  Colonels  Whalley  and  Goff  by  the 
officers  of  Charles  II  at  New  Haven  in  old  colony  days. 

Mrs.  Murray's  Dinner  Party,  in  three  acts,  is  a  lively  comedy 
about  a  Patriot  hostess  and  British  Officers  in  Revolutionary 
Days. 

Scenes  from  Lincoln's  Time;  the  martyred  President  does  not 
himself  appear.  They  cover  Lincoln's  helping  a  little  girl  with 
her  trunk,  women  preparing  lint  for  the  wounded,  a  visit  to  the 
White  House  of  an  important  delegation  from  New  York,  and 
of  the  mother  of  a  soldier  boy  sentenced  to  death — and  the  com- 
ing of  the  army  of  liberation  to  the  darkies. 

Tho  big  events  are  touched  upon,  the  mounting  of  all  these 
little  plays  is  simplicity  itself,  and  they  have  stood  the  test  of 
frequent  school  performance. 

HENRY    HOLT      AND      COMPANY 
Publishers  New  York 


BOOKS    ON    AND    OF    SCHOOL    PLAYS 

By  Constance  D'Arcy  Mackay 

HOW  TO  PRODUCE  CHILDREN'S  PLAYS 

The  author  is  a  recognized  authority  on  the  production 
of  plays  and  pageants  in  the  pubHc  schools,  and  combines  en- 
thusiastic sympathy  with  sound,  practical  instructions.  She 
tells  both  how  to  inspire  and  care  for  the  young  actor,  how 
to  make  costumes,  properties,  scenery,  where  to  find  de- 
signs for  them,  what  music  to  use,  etc.,  etc.  She  prefaces  it 
all  with  an  interesting  historical  sketch  of  the  plays-for-chil- 
dren  movement,  includes  elaborate  detailed  analyses  of  per- 
formances of  Browning's  Pied  Piper  and  Rosetti's  Pageant 
of  the  Months,  and  concludes  with  numerous  valuable  an- 
alytical   lists    of    plays    for    various    grades    and    occasions. 

PATRIOTIC  PLAYS  AND  PAGEANTS 

Pageant  of  Patriotism  (Outdoor  and  Indoor  Versions)  : — 
♦Princess  Pocahontas,  Pilgrim  Interlude,  Ferry  Farm  Epi- 
sode, *George  Washington's  Fortune,  *Daniel  Boone :  Patriot, 
Benjamin  Franklin  Episode,  Lincoln  Episode,  Final  Tableau. 

Hawthorne  Pageant  (for  Outdoor  or  Indoor  Produc- 
tion) : — Chorus  of  Spirits  of  the  Old  Manse,  Prologue  by  the 
Muse  of  Hawthorne,  In  Witchcraft  Days,  Dance  Interlude, 
Merrymount,  etc. 

The  portions  marked  with  a  star  (*)  are  one-act  plays 
suitable  for  separate  performance.  There  are  full  directions 
for  simple  costumes,  scenes,  and  staging.     12mo. 

THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  HEART 

Short  plays  in  verse  for  children  of  fourteen  or  younger : — 
"The  House  of  the  Heart  (Morality  Play)— "The  Enchanted 
Garden"  (Flower  Play) — "A  Little  Pilgrim's  Progress"  (Mor- 
ality Play) — "A  Pageant  of  Hours"  (To  be  given  Out  of 
Doors) — "On  Christmas  Eve."  "The  Princess  and  the  Pix- 
ies."   "The  Christmas  Guest"  (Miracle  Play.),  etc. 

"An  addition  to  child  drama  which  has  been  sorely  needed.'* — Boston 
Transcript. 

THE  SILVER  THREAD 

And  Other  Folk  Plays.  "The  Silver  Thread"  (Cornish)  ; 
"The  Forest  Spnng"  (Italian)  ;  "The  Foam  Maiden"  (Celtic)  ; 
"Troll  Magic"  (Norwegian)  ;  "The  Three  Wishes"  (French)  ; 
"A  Brewing  of  Brains"  (English);  "Siegfried"  (German); 
"The  Snow  Witch"  (Russian). 

HENRY    HOLT    AND    COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS  NEW  YOiLK 


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THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

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